


The True Fallen Child

by FandomLesbian



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Frisk Needs A Hug, He's always sad, Hurt/Comfort, Royal Scientists, Sad Sans, Skeleton kisses, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, Timelines, aka gaster, i need to stop putting so much foreshadowing like srs, so much foreshadowing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-07
Updated: 2016-04-24
Packaged: 2018-05-18 17:45:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 35,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5937250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FandomLesbian/pseuds/FandomLesbian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frisk goes through the Underground, breaks the barrier, and saves the day... about 100 times. In a row. And honestly, Chara is getting damned tired of running through and playing hero. Chara is going to take control of this silly little humans body and slaughter everyone in their path until they reach the surface, then go on and make humanity pay for their sins. Except Frisk isn't a "silly little human", and Sans isn't oblivious as you think he is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Name

Laughter fills the crisp autumn air. The sky above them is clear and blue, not a cloud in sight. The sun droops across the sky, being dragged down by the horizon. With rakes in each of their hands, the two bunch up all the dead leaves in the yard into one gigantic pile. Once there is not a stray leaf to be seen, they put down their rakes and eye their master piece.

"Alright, you wanna jump in first, kid?" Sans asks.

Frisk looks at the skeleton fearfully. Sans laughs.

"C'mon, kid, there's a first for everything. Am I gonna have to throw you in?"

Frisk's eyes widen. They back away slowly while Sans looks at them with a devilish grin. He steps closer and closer, and Frisk turns around and runs away. They don't go very far before Sans is picking them up and carrying them in his arms back to the giant leaf pile. Frisk squirms in his arms, but Sans just grips them tighter.

"MOOOOMMM! SANS IS - AHH!"

Sans tosses Frisk in before they could finish their sentence. The human falls into the leaves, and soon after, Sans is jumping in right after them. Frisk hurriedly grabs a fistful of leaves and shoves them into Sans' face. Sans cringes. Once the leaves have fallen from his face, he says," Oh, that's it, human!"

Frisks' laughter fills the air as they run, Sans chasing after them. They run around the backyard, and soon enough, Sans grabs them. He pulls them to his chest, then smothers a handful of leaves into their face.

"S-Sans, you dirty fucker!"

Sans laughs, and Frisk hears him run away and jump back into the pile of leaves. They brush the leaves from their hair and glance back at the skeleton. He's lying in the leaf pile, hands behind his head and looking at them with a smirk. Frisk grins fondly back at him. Frisk has got to admit, when they first met him back in the underground when he pulled that whoopie-cushion trick, they were taken aback by him. But now... they can't think of a life without the silly skeleton. Ever since they left the underground 3 months ago to live up on the surface, life has been swell. Papyrus took up cooking lessons and is now a chef... at the middle school cafeteria. Undyne and Alphys have an apartment together in the city. Undyne is a police officer, and Alphys works for the government as a scientist. Asgore has been trying to mend the broken bonds he has not only with humanity, but with Toriel as well. Meanwhile, Frisk and Sans are in college. Frisk didn't really want to go to college, but Sans insisted because he didn't want to have such an "awesome experience" by himself. So Frisk joined him, but took some of their own courses that they were interested in. Frisk was living with Toriel, Sans shared an apartment with Papyrus, and everything was great.

"Frisk, did I just hear you cursing?"

Toriel steps out the back door with a stern look on her face.

"Sorry, mom..."

"And Sans..."

Her sharp glare is directed at Sans. The skeleton sits up and smiles nervously.

"Don't hurt my child, you bone-head."

Sans chuckles nervously as Toriel retreats back inside. As soon as the door shuts, Frisk looks at Sans with a smirk.

"You just got owned, Sans."

Sans rolls his eyes, blushing,"Shut up."

Frisk laughs. They run over and jump on Sans. He chuckles and wraps his arms around Frisk's middle. The human sighs and looks up at the clear blue sky. The human slowly drifts to sleep. When Frisk wakes up, they aren't lying on top of Sans. They're lying on a bed of bright yellow flowers. Frisk frowns and looks around. It looks like the spot where they woke up right after they fell into Mount Ebott. Horror strikes Frisk like a lightening bolt.

_No. No, this can't be... how am I back here?_

Suddenly, another voice chimes in.

_**Oh Frisk... you must be confused. So, I'll tell you what happened. I reset everything. I erased everything that has happened from the first time you fell into Mount Ebott to the surface, where you were lying with Sans mere minutes ago.** _

"Who-who are you?" Frisk stutters, looking around rapidly.

**_I'm not a person. Well, I was, but now i'm just... sharing bodies with you. I decided to let you be happy for a while before I broke the news to you._ **

"What news?"

_**You're never going to escape the underground, Frisk. You might stay on the surface for weeks, months even, but you will always come back here. Right in this very spot. Nobody will remember you- except me, of course. You will relive this over and over - until you let me take control over you.** _

"But who are you? How are you..."

**_It's okay, Frisk. I understand how you're feeling. My name is Chara._ **


	2. 120

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara and Frisk chat as they go through the Ruins, and the human learns a little something about Chara along the way. Once they pass Toriel and Frisk meets Sans (again), something changes. Sans has changed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So many puns

    Shoes pad on hard ground. Gentle creatures hop out at Frisk as they trek through the ruins. The human talks to them all, never killing one. They feel weighted down, like an anchor tied to a ship. Exhaustion and gut-wrenching memories are haunting them. Memories from the surface, yes, but from the Underground, too. Of dark crimson blood staining their hands. Of electric blue eyes. Of tearful eyes and broken hearts. Broken friends.

               Frisk sighs. They should focus on the task at hand.

_What is the task at hand, though? Go through till you die?_

_**Frisk, you know neither of us-**_

               “I know.”

               A whimsum greets them. They’re gone in an instant, and Frisk continues their trek across The Ruins. Frisk hums as they go along. It’s low and sad.

               **_120 resets and I’ve never heard you hum._**

_120 resets and I don’t know anything about you._

Surprisingly enough, Frisk truly doesn’t know much about Chara. Frisk never tried to ask them any personal questions, except for the first time they heard of Chara. When Chara introduced themself, Frisk was skeptic and unsure about the whole thing. Chara didn’t talk much the first few resets. But soon, they started telling Frisk… un-kind things. They would tell Frisk to kill the monster and see what would happen, or ask if the human was getting tired of going through the same course over and over again. It wasn’t until the 20th reset that Chara brought up killing Toriel. Frisk was horrified. They didn’t do it. But… eventually… they did.

_**You know enough.**_

**** _Your name isn’t enough. Did you have a family?_

_**…yes. Two.**_

**** _Two?_

               **_I had a family on the surface, and a family in the underground. A family by blood, a family by will. But, everything has evolved and changed. They’ve forgotten, and I don’t care._**

 **** _Huh. I’m sorry, Chara. I never knew I would ever feel sorry for you ever since that… that thing you made me do…_

_**Don’t act like it was all me. I created the desire, but you acted on it.**_

Guilt flares up in Frisk. They keep walking, silent.

               **_I planted the idea of killing m-Toriel, but you’re the one who acted on it. You’re the one who had the knife in your palm, the one who forced that blade into Toriel, the one that watched as her face fell-_**

               “I GET IT!” Frisk yells, scaring the nearby froggit. He ribbits and hops away.

               The human sighs. They take another step, and a monster pops up. Before Frisk can think, they dig out the knife and strike. It takes 3 tries before the monster goes down, dead and gone. Seconds after Frisk picks up the gold and possessions the monster had, they stop. Their eyes bulge.

               _I… I… fuck, I didn’t mean to… I hurt them…_

_**Don’t be upset, Frisk. You once killed everyone in the underground – this isn’t a big deal.**_

“Chara,” Frisk huffs.

               They continue forth, soon coming across Toriel and her house.

               “How did you get here, my child?”

 

               The trees stand tall, stretching over them and touching the sky. They’re grouped together side by side like guards protecting the secrets of the universe. Brown boots trudge through powdery snow. The wind rushes by them, the cold bites their skin, and there’s a short bridge ahead. Frisk steps over a large stick. They hear it break, but continue going until they reach the bridge. They stop. Heavy footsteps draw closer behind them.

               Once upon a time, this scared them. Chills ran down their spine and the hair on their neck stood straight up. Fear was crawling in their stomach like a spider trying to dig itself free. They almost couldn’t turn around that first time. But they did, and they still are, because of one powerful thing.

               D E T E R M I N A T I O N.

               “Human. Don’t you know how to greet an old pal? Turn around and shake my hand.”

               It takes a second to register, but they catch it.

Frisk turns around. Sans’ hand is outstretched, a blank look on his face. Frisk presses their palm to the skeletons. A loud noise rips through the air, and a slow smirk shows on Sans’ face. Frisk narrows their eyes.

               “heheh… the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. It’s ALWAYS funny.”

               “It wasn’t very funny,” Frisk comments.

               A flash of confusion crosses Sans expression, but it’s gone in an instant. Sans smiles.              

               “Anyways, you’re a human, right? “

               Frisk nods.

               “That’s hilarious. I’m Sans. Sans the skeleton. I’m actually supposed to be on watch for humans right now. But… y’know… I don’t really care about capturing anything. Except your heart,” Sans winks.

               Frisk can’t help but crack a smile at that one. Sans chuckles.

               “While I’m a heart-capturing fanatic… Papyrus, my brother, is a _human_ -capturing fanatic. It sucks. He’s always on my _tail-bone_ about humans.”

               Frisk rolls their eyes,” That wasn’t a good one.”

               “Hey, I work hard at my puns. I’m not a… _casket case.”_

Frisk smiles. A few memories come to mind from the surface…

              

_“Sans, I came up with a good one today in class.”_

_They’re sitting in the park a few blocks away from the college. Classes just ended and the two decided to walk together to the park. Sans and Frisk sit next to each other under a shady tree while other children play on the playground. Their shoulders are touching, backs against the trunk of the tree._

_“In class, huh? I thought you’re supposed to be, I don’t know, **learning** in class and not coming up with bad jokes. “_

_“It’s an awesome one, though!”_

_“If it’s a bad one… you’re gonna get dunked on.”_

_“Oh god Sans, please don’t keep me up all night making puns again!”_

_“Go ahead and spill the joke, kiddo, I’m waitin.”_

_“Encyclopedias are loud… they speak in volumes.”_

_There’s a few beats of silence._

_“Frisk. That was horrible and I loved it. “_

“Human? Hey.”

               “What?” Frisk replies.

               Sans looks at them worriedly.

               “You zoned out for a few seconds, bucko. Didn’t want you to die on me. What’s your name, anyways?”

               “My name is Frisk.”


	3. Pain and burgers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once Frisk goes through Papyrus and his puzzles, Frisk and Sans go to Grillbys for some food and a chat. The chat... doesn't exactly go to plan. Sans puts his hands on Frisks' hand, Chara makes an appearance, Sans gets sad, Frisk gets sad... It's a mess, really.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, a long-ish chapter for once ! Please comment what ya think!

 

               “Nice to meet you, Frisk. Hey, actually, I think that’s my brother over there. I have an idea. Go through this gate thingy. Yeah, go right through. My bro made the bars too wide to stop anyone.”

               The bridge creaks as Frisk walks through. For a second, they’re scared it might break and they’ll fall through, but then they remember that it won’t. Nothing changes here. Except now… Sans apparently _does_ change. Sans walks through, and the bridge doesn’t collapse from under him. Frisk steps into soft snow and sees Papyrus stomping through the snow with his bright red boots in the distance.

               “Quick, behind that conveniently-shaped lamp.”

               Frisk makes there way behind the lamp. As soon as they get behind the lamp, Papyrus comes barreling closer. He stands there, red scarf flapping in the wind and head held high.

               **_Remember when you killed him?_**

**** _That wasn’t me. That was you._

_**Who does Sans think it was?**_

“Sup, bro?”

               “YOU KNOW WHAT _SUP_ , BROTHER! IT’S BEEN EIGHT DAYS AND YOU STILL HAVEN’T… RECALIBRATED. YOUR. PUZZLES! YOU JUST HANG AROUND OUTSIDE YOUR STATION! WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING?!?”

               **_And Frisk, he will never know about me either. Nobody will. Nobody knows about the resets, nobody knows about me being here- except me of course, and a flower._**

**** _A flower? Wait… flowey knows you’re here?_

“Staring at this lamp. It’s really cool. Do you wanna look?”

               Frisk hears Papyrus stomp his boots in the snow.

               “NO!! I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THAT!! WHAT IF A HUMAN COMES THROUGH HERE!?!”

               **_Of course he does, he-… never mind._**

**** _What?_

_**Focus on being your merciful self, Frisk.**_

“…I MUST BE THE ONE! I WILL CAPTURE A HUMAN! THEN, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS… WILL GET ALL THE THINGS I UTTERLY DESERVE! RESPECT, RECONGNITION…”

               _Sans was different this time. He has never done that, that has never changed before, nothing has changed before unless I’m the one that caused it. Sans knows something. Maybe I can talk to him._

_**Talk to Sans? Listen, if he is actually aware of the other resets, would he trust you? Once upon a time, everyone in the underground died at your hands. Maybe you aren’t the one who spilled the blood, but it was your body, wasn’t it?**_

**** _So I’m hopeless. That’s what you’re saying._

_**Hate to break it to you, but yeah. You’re fucked.**_

**** _Until I let you take control over me permanently._

_**Basically, yeah.**_

**** _Well, fuck._

               “Wow, sounds like you’re really working yourself…down to the bone.”

               **_I’ve always fucking hated his stupid puns._**

“UGH!!! I WILL ATTEND TO MY PUZZLES… AS FOR YOUR WORK? PUT A LITTLE MORE, _BACKBONE_ INTO IT!!!! NYEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!!!”

               _I like his puns. They’re silly, but Sans is a silly guy._

“HEH!”

               After a few seconds go by and Papyrus has left, Sans tells Frisk that they can come out now. Frisk walks back over to Sans, thinking about what Chara had said. Sans… he can’t be aware of the resets. But, he just changed the system. Nothing changes here unless Frisk makes the first move, but they didn’t. Sans made the first move.

               “You oughta get going. He might come back. And if he does… you’ll have to sit through more of my hilarious jokes,” He winks.

               Frisk hesitates.

               “If your brother comes back, I would surely be in for a bad time,” Frisk comments slyly, turning around.

               Frisk takes only a few steps before glancing behind them. Sans isn’t there anymore- only the bridge, the tall trees, and the purple doors that separate the ruins from the rest of the underground. Frisk continues to walk on, going right up to a save point.

               **_Sans’ stupid puns fill you with determination,_** Chara mocks.

               “I wish you would stop talking,” Frisk snaps.

               The human stops at the box to store away their stick along with their tough glove.

               **_Oh, don’t put the stick away!_**

**** _…why not?_

_**Then you can’t use it to poke someone’s eye out.**_

Frisk huffs and closes the box. They walk forth to come across Papyrus and Sans.

               “SO, AS I WAS SAYING ABOUT UNDYNE…”

 

 

               Frisk goes through Papyrus’ puzzles in a flash. When they go to fight Papyrus, Chara encourages them to kill the skeleton.

               **_Frisk, you’re going to reset anyways. This won’t matter._**

Frisk ignores Chara and spares Papyrus. In fact, they even go on a date with the skeleton even though the human knows how it will turn out. The entire time, Chara groans and sighs about how boring being nice is and how much effort it takes to be romantically involved with someone.

               _You’re just saying that because you’re-_

_**Shut up, you don’t know my sexuality.**_

               When Frisk finally gets to Waterfall and sees Sans at his station, their heart jumps. Grillbys. It’s time for Grillbys. And that means that Sans might act different, and Frisk might get something out of him.

               Frisk walks straight past the yellow monster kid, the orange fish, and the bright blue echo flower. The waterfall gushes, and their boots pad on the ground. Sans grins at them. Frisk notices how empty his grin is. It’s always so empty, no emotion seeping into it. It’s dull and forced and Frisk doesn’t like it.

“What? Haven’t you seen a guy with two jobs before? Fortunately, two jobs mean twice as many legally-required breaks. I’m going to Grillbys. Wanna come, human?”

               “Yeah.”

               “Well, if you insist…I’ll pry myself away from my work…”

               Sans walks out of his station to stand by Frisk. He’s only a few inches taller than Frisk. Frisk frowns.

               **_You’re so short._**

**** _You are too._

**_You’ve never even seen my body before, midget._ **

**** _Yeah, but you’re sharing a body with me, aren’t you?_

_**... Touché.**_

“Over here. I know –“

               “A shortcut?” Frisk finishes.

               Sans eyes Frisk with searching eyes. With a confused nod, Sans leads the way. Frisk follows close behind. In seconds of flashing lights and their stomach flipping and their head spinning, they walk through the doors of Grillbys. Frisk is met with the smell of burning food and leather. Their boots clank on the smooth, clean, hard-wood floors of the place. The music flows through the room and swirls in their ears. Chara sighs.

               **_I’ve missed this place._**

**** _… We were in here literally last reset._

_**That was a while ago!**_

“Fast shortcut, huh?”

               “Yeah, definitely.”

               “Hey, everyone…”

               Sans introduces everyone, just like always. Soon, they’re sitting down on the comfy orange barstools. Sans’ feet can barely touch the ground. Frisk’s feet hang. Chara snickers. Suddenly, a loud noise rips through the place. Frisk glances down at the whoopee cushion beneath them. They glare at Sans. Sans is chuckling.

               “Whoops, watch where you sit down. Sometimes weirdos put whoopee cushions on the seats. Anyway, let’s order. Whaddya want…?”

               “I want a burger.”

               “Hey, that sounds pretty good. Grillby, we’ll have a double order of burg.”

               Grillby gives a curt nod before heading into the back, the only indication that he heard what Sans had said. Sans clears his throat. Frisk looks at him. He isn’t smiling anymore.

               “So what do you think…”

               _Of my brother._

“Of Snowdin?”

               Frisk pauses. They stare at the skeleton for a moment in surprise. He didn’t say ‘ of my brother’. He didn’t say what he usually says. Does this mean…?

               “It’s cool.”

               “Of course it’s cool. It’s 10 degrees here every day.”

               The door to the back squeaks as Grillby comes walking out with a plate in each of his hands. As he sets the plates down, his fire crackles. Frisk eyes the flames as he walks away.

               “Want some ketchup?”

               “Yes.”

               Sans slides the ketchup bottle over to Frisk.

               “Bone appetite,” He says with a wink.

               As Frisk picks up the ketchup bottle, Sans puts a boney hand over theirs. His hand is cold, and it makes chills run down their back.

               “Actually, we both know that isn’t a good idea. “

               Frisk looks at Sans. He isn’t smiling or grinning. He's staring back at Frisk with no emotion in his face. Frisk slowly puts the ketchup bottle down. Sans opens it himself and puts it onto Frisks’ burger. Frisk watches as he pours it on, then tilts it back onto the dark wooden table. He slides the bottle away from them.

               “Thanks for not killing everyone this time. It means a lot.”

               Frisks breath catches in their throat. Sans glances at them.

               “You’ve only did it once, though. Have you learned your lesson? Do you not want to have a bad time again?”

               Frisk looks at him, gaping like a fish. They weren’t expecting Sans to be so straight-forward, so blunt.

               **_Frisk, you aren’t going to just take this, are you? Fucking stab him! With your words, not your knife- actually, both options are reasonable…_**

“Sans, I… I’m…”

               Sans huffs. He looks away, his shoulders caving in.

               “I keep waiting for your determination to run out, but it seems to live on forever. Do you _like_ to torture us? Torture me? “

               “No, of course not…”

               **_Frisk, fight fire with fucking fire, dammit! We’re going nowhere here!_**

_I don’t want to hurt him._

_**If you won’t, I will.**_

**** _What? Chara, don’t-_

“Sans, you don’t care,” Chara spits. “ You don’t care that I killed you, you don’t care that I killed your brother, you don’t care. That’s your problem. You don’t care about anything.”

               Sans looks at Chara with pain in his face. Frisk wants to hug him and explain what has happened, to apologize, but Chara is in control.

               “You gave up by the 10th reset. You wake up every day, and it takes _hours_ to get out of bed.”

               _Chara, I think that’s enough._

“You believe that every day is worthless. It’s just going to reset again, so why bother?”

               _I said that’s enough._

“You think that I don’t remember any of it, don’t you? I… i…” Frisk blinks. 

               Sans is looking at them with a mix of confusion and hurt. Frisk sighs.

               _i… I can’t explain now. Not here._

“Can we talk in private?” Frisk says, looking around at the monsters in the restaurant. They haven’t seemed to have noticed the tense, sad air rising.

               It takes Sans a few moments, but he nods. He gets up. His hands are shaking.

               “Let’s-let’s go to my house. My room.”

               Frisk nods. They leave. They don’t take a shortcut this time. They walk straight through Snowdin to the Sans & Papyrus household.


	4. I'm not crazy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk and Sans have a chat, and Chara isn't Jesus. Basically, everything isn't alright but they pretend it is, until it really really isn't.

               Frisk has seen Sans’ room before. They’ve seen his workshop, too. Every part of the underground, every crack and crevice, Frisk has seen. So it isn’t a magical discovery when Sans opens the door to his room and allows Frisk in.

               The room is pitch black until Sans turns on the light. It’s how Frisk saw it last time, a few resets ago – plain and messy. There’s a bunch of balled of papers lying on the floor. There’s a treadmill in the middle of the room; for what, Frisk has no idea, because they know that Sans doesn’t run on it. There’s a clean desk in the other corner by the window with just a lamp on it, parallel to the bed. The bed is just a mattress with a sheet, blanket, and pillow on it. Sans walks past the treadmill and sits down on the edge of his bed, feet hanging off the side. Frisk hops onto the desk and sits, swinging their feet. They eye him, hoping Chara didn’t hurt him too much.

               **_If that smiling trash bag is truly hurt and pained by what I said, then he’s just a scaredy skeleton hiding behind a mask of power. It takes 200 tries in a row to kill him, but I can take him down mentally with a few sentences? What a fucking child._**

**** _Don’t talk bad about my friend._

_**Did I hurt a soft spot, Frisk?**_ Chara teases. **_Sorry, I forgot you’re in love with the guy._**

Frisk feels heat tickle their neck and grow to their cheeks. They look at Sans, hoping he doesn’t notice. His head is down and his shoulders are caved in. The blush fades away, a frown as a replacement.

               “Sans, I’m-“

               “Do you remember the other resets?” Sans interrupts, looking up at them.

               Frisk swallows thickly. “Yes… do… do you?”

               “Yeah. I do.”

               **_He doesn’t trust you… He hates you..._**

“Sans, I never wanted to hurt any of you.”

               “I don’t care, Frisk. That’s my problem, right? That I don’t care?”

               “That’s not true.”

               “Then why did you say it?”

               **_Go ahead. Tell him. He doesn’t trust you, anyways. Go ahead and make him even more uneasy by telling him you have another person inside of you, taking control over you from time to time. That doesn’t sound crazy. _**

Frisk sighs because they know Chara is telling the truth. He isn’t going to let it all slip by with a smile and help Frisk. He’s going to be even more confused and hurt and weirded-out. They need to try and sneak around this.

               “It isn’t true. I was just… I was mad, and confused, and… I never knew anyone knew about the resets. I never meant to torture you; to hurt you,” Frisk says.

               The familiar feeling of guilt twists their stomach. Sans is eyeing them skeptically. Frisk is hoping that Sans would let this slide, would believe them at least a little bit. They can’t have Sans mad at them. Sans has a special grip on them that they can’t explain.

               “I never knew you remembered all the resets. But you do.”

               “And I know I’ve done some things wrong,” Frisk confesses.” But you have done some things wrong in your life, too. “

               Sans straightens, just slightly.

               “So let’s move past this and try to figure out how to stop the resets.”

               Sans pauses.” I thought you controlled the resets?”

               “Well, I do. But sometimes… it just resets all of a sudden. I’m forced to do this all over again.”

               Sans nods,” So you’re like me, but you’re more in control, I guess… “

               “That’s why I always reset once the barrier breaks. I don’t want to create a happy life just for it to be taken away.”

               Sans looks down, and a storm cloud looms over the both of them. Frisk would do anything to get that happy life back. They remember everything. Everything. The anime marathons at Alphys and Undynes apartment, cooking with Papyrus and accidently setting a fire that Sans put out while Papyrus ran around the room screaming, making pies with Toriel, hanging outside and watching Asgore tend to his garden, going to the ice cream shop after classes were over with Sans and watching the workers expression when they order every single flavor of ice cream in the shop… It was perfect.

**_Nothings perfect without me._ **

               “How are we going to stop this? We don’t even know what’s resetting everything.”

               This would be easier if they just told him. That would be a weight off of Frisks shoulders, and they would be one step in the direction of freedom from Chara.

               **_He’s going to think you’re crazy…_**

               _I have to tell him if we’re going to work together._

_**Let’s play would you rather. Would you rather work with Sans with him almost trusting you, or work with Sans who doesn’t trust you, thinks you’re going crazy, and is just working with you to get out of this hell? Pick.**_

               _I…_

               The door to the room flies open. It hits the wall. Frisk jolts, whipping their head to the direction of the door to see who it is. Papyrus is standing boldly in the doorway with a hand on his hip and the other hand holding a plate of food up. The smell of something burnt drifts throughout the room. Papyrus smiles at his brother and takes a step forward, but then his eyes land on Frisk. He gasps, nearly spilling the plate of burnt spaghetti.

“SANS, YOU DIDN’T TELL ME THE HUMAN IS HERE! I WOULD HAVE MADE A PLATE OF SPAGHETTI FOR THEM!” Papyrus exclaims.

               “Papyrus, they can have that plate of spaghetti. I’m not very hungry.”

               “ARE YOU SURE? YOU HAVEN’T EATEN MY SPAGHETTI IN DAYS!”

               “I’m sure, Papyrus.”

               “OKAY… ARE YOU HUNGRY, HUMAN? EVEN IF YOU AREN’T, HERE IS SOME AMAZING SPAGHETTI FROM I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS!”

               Papyrus marches over in his bright boots and hands the plate off to Frisk with a bright smile. Frisk smiles at him, thanks him, and takes the plate of spaghetti. The burnt smell strangles the human.

               “NO NEED TO THANK ME, HUMAN! NOW, I AM OFF TO HAVE COOKING LESSONS WITH UNDYNE EVEN THOUGH I AM ALREADY AN EXCELLENT CHEF! SEE YOU LATER!”

               Papyrus disappears from the room in a flash, the door slamming shut. Silence settles in. Frisk stares at the spaghetti, wondering whether or not they should try it. The noodles are as dark as coal, and the sauce is equivalent to water. Sans chuckles. Frisk looks up at him.

“You don’t have to eat that. “    

               Frisk sets the plate as far away from them as possible on the desk.

               “Sorry, I don’t enjoy his cooking.”

               “Nobody does. That’s why he worked in a school cafeteria.”

               A small smile passes the humans face. Sans sighs.

               “I should go to work before Papyrus realizes I’m slacking off. I’ll see you ‘round, kiddo.”

               Sans stands up from the bed, but before he begins to walk off, Frisk shoots a hand out and grips his sleeve. Sans looks back at them expectantly.

               “Thank you.”

               With those two words, a million meanings are passed through. Sans seems to understand all of them. He pauses, looking down at the hand gripping his sleeve. Frisk lets go of the sleeve.

               “You’re right, you know. About what you said at Grillbys. I may be walking, but I’m dead on the inside. I flipped my emotions off.”

               “If you’d let me, I’d like to flip them back on.”

               Sans pauses.

               “Flip-tastic.”

               Sans is grinning unsurely at them, waiting for their reaction. Frisk sighs, but grins at the skeleton. Sans’ smile grows.

               “I hate you, Sans.”

               “Hate you too, Frisk,” Sans replies, walking towards the door.

               The door opens and shuts, and Frisk is left alone with Chara. Frisk has the ghost of a smile left on their face. They think of the surface when them and Sans were having a pun-off. Toriel, of course, beat them both. The score was Frisk – 23, Sans – 567, Toriel – 568. Frisk could never understand how you can say 568 puns within a day, but you can.

               _“You only got 23? You’re such a loser, holy shit.”_

_“Well maybe you just aren’t around me enough.”_

_“Maybe you need pun- lessons. Pun school. “_

_“Maybe you should be my teacher since you’re the master of puns.”_

_“Nah, Toriel is the master of puns. I’m the apprentice of puns.”_

_“And I’m the…”_

_“You’re the servant of the pun apprentice.”_

_“Fuck you too, Sans!”_

_Sans laughs,” I’m kidding, kiddo. You’re the apprentice of the apprentice. “_

_“Fair enough. I still don’t understand how you can say 567 puns in a day.”_

_“I don’t understand how you_ **can’t** _say 567 puns in a day.”_

_**Yay, aren’t puns awesome? Can you hear my sarcasm?**_

Frisk sighs.

               **_I’m soooo fuckin GLAD you’re joining up with_ that _stupid skeleton to attempt to get rid of me. You know that’s not possible, right? Bullet in the dark, Frisk._**

“I’ll destroy you, Chara,” Frisk states, determination flaring inside of them.” And when I do, I’m going to blast some music and dance with Sans on your grave.”

               **_You know what I’m going to do when I finally defeat you?_**

**_D E S T R O Y   H U M A N I T Y._ **

Fear crawls beneath Frisks skin like a spider, but it doesn’t over-power their determination.

 

 

               Frisk wanders through the underground for the rest of the day, taking their time with everything. They talk to every creature and occasionally stop to enjoy the view of the waterfall, or the echo flower, or the big banner introducing Hot Land.

               _I should get a camera._ Frisk thinks as they stare at the banner.

               **_Yeah, why don’t you just waltz into Wal-mart? Because there. Isn’t. one. You. Dumb. Fuck._**

**** _Jesus you’re rude today._

_**My name is Chara- I’m not as holy as jesus.**_

Frisk groans. Chara snickers. They keep going through Hot Land, Chara making comments about everything they see as always. Frisk knows the path of the underground like the back of their hand, just like Chara, but they explore, anyways. They stop when they see Alphys’ lab, and turn around.

               **_Wait, where are you going?_**

“Back to Snowdin.”

               **_To what, lie to Sans more? Great idea._**

The whole time Frisk walks back, Chara continues to question their choice of going back to see Sans.

**_Frisk, that idiot really isn’t good for you. You should go after someone with more… unique-ness. Someone that is actually like-able. Someone that isn’t a complete fool._ **

**_Do we have to spend more time around Sans? Fucking hell, I’m gonna eject myself from this stupid body and go crawl in a hole._ **

**** _He isn’t that bad._

_**Sans is terrible. I can’t stand his jokes. He even made those jokes back when I was alive! But that’s not why I started to hate him.**_

**** _Why did you start to hate him?_

_**He fucking burnt my shoe off! I accidently messed with one of his blueprints, and he got super pissed at me. His eye turned blue – like in the judgment hall – and he blasted straight through my shoe. Luckily, I only received mild burns on the top of my foot, but god… he could have burnt my foot off.**_

**** _Chara, how old are you?_

_**Well, technically, I don’t grow anymore. I’m stuck at age 16 forever. Why?**_

**** _Um… no reason._

_**Oh. I see what you’re getting at, Frisky Frisk. He’s 24, if you wanted to know.**_

_What?_ Frisk asks, but their face is heating up. Chara snickers.

               **_Don’t act like you don’t know what the hell I’m talking about. Sans was 8 when I fell down here. I lived in the underground for about 5 years before I died, and I’m 3 years older than him. Do the math, Frisky. I thought he already told you his age._**

**** _He doesn’t talk about his past much. When we were all on the surface and I asked, he just said he was in his twenties._

_**Well, he wasn’t lying. Now you can jump into his pants without worry.**_

Frisks face burns red. _Shut up._

Chara continues to tease Frisk on the walk back to Snowdin. Frisk ignores them, not wanting a blush on their face when they knock on Sans and Papyrus’ door. When they finally get there, they step up to their door and knock twice. As they stand there and wait, the cold bits their skin. Frisk should get a warm jacket.

               Before Frisk can think too much into getting a jacket, the door is opening. Sans stands there, smiling warmly. He seems happier than earlier, which is good.

               “Hey, Frisk. Come in.”

               As Frisk steps in, the smell of butter and something cooking hits them. Sans shuts the door as Frisk inhales once again through their nose. They look around to see what it is to find blankets piled on the couch and floor with pillows all around, and an opening options of a movie on the tv screen.

               “Yeah, we were just getting ready to watch a movie.”

               “Should I come back later…?”

               “Nah, it’s fine. You don’t have anything better to do, do you?”

               Frisk shakes their head. “Nope.”

               “Go ahead and sit or lie wherever you like. I’ll get the popcorn and Papyrus.”

               While Sans heads to the kitchen, Frisk sits down on the couch and gets comfy. It only takes seconds for Sans and Papyrus to come out carrying two bowls of popcorn.

               “FRISK! GLAD TO SEE YOU AGAIN! APOLOGIES, BUT WE ONLY HAVE TWO BOWLS OF POPCORN, BUT SANS SAID IT WOULD BE FINE IF YOU TWO SHARED!”

               “Yeah, that’s fine.”

               **_Two hands in one bowl… touching hands… blushy faces…_**

**** _I can’t wait to get rid of you._

Papyrus plops down on the floor and throws one of the blankets over himself. Sans sits down besides Frisk and sets the popcorn between them. He reaches over and grabs the remote off the side table and is about to play it, but hesitates.

               “Fuck. I forgot to turn off the light.”

               “I got it,” Frisk says.

               They jump up and walk to the light switch, flipping off the light. Frisk finds their way back to the couch through the dark, the only source of light being the television screen. As the movie starts, they realize Sans is closer than before.

               The movie goes on, and two things surprisingly don’t happen. One, Chara doesn’t interrupt or say anything at all, and them and Sans don’t bump hands. Frisk _does_ end up growing tired about half-way through the movie. Their eyes droop, and they catch themself closing their eyes several times. Eventually, Frisk decides to lie down. They move the empty bowl of popcorn onto the floor, then lie their head on Sans’ lap. At first, Sans doesn’t react. Soon enough, he relaxes once again. Frisk feels Sans’ hand running through their hair. They nuzzle down into Sans’ legs, and sleep quickly takes the human under it’s spell.

               When the movie is over and Papyrus jumps up to spill his feelings about the movie, he finds Frisk sleeping on his brothers lap, and his brother glaring at him powerfully.

               “If you wake Frisk up, I’ll never eat your spaghetti again,” Sans whispers, no heat behind his words.

               Papyrus nods quickly and quietly goes to his room. Sans sighs softly and looks down at the human.

               “Frisk…” Sans breathes out.” I’m bitter about what you did. Y’know, killing everyone. But… you must have a reason, right? You wouldn’t do that. You wouldn’t do that. “

               Sans clenches his jaw. He runs his hand through Frisks dark hair.

               “You’re my friend, so, uh… please don’t turn out to be a dick. “  

               Time passes. Sans finds comfort in the feeling of Frisks hair between his fingers. Eventually, he stands with the human in his arms. He carries them to his room to lay them down on his bed. He returns to the couch and lies down, his mind wandering off.

               It’s a little after midnight when Sans hears a shout coming from somewhere upstairs. He bolts off the couch and sneaks into his brothers room, figuring that he had a nightmare. When Sans peeks in, the room is dark, and Papyrus is sleeping soundly. Sans frowns. He shuts the door, and heads to his room where Frisk is sleeping. As he’s about to turn the knob, he hears something, and stops. Frisk is talking.

               “Ooh, _I’m so fuckin scared,_ ” Frisk snickers sarcastically.

               “Stop it. Please. Let me sleep in peace,” Frisk begs.

               “But it’s so _fun_ to mess with you. Plus, it’s revenge for you spending so much friggen time around that stupid skeleton.”

               Sans frowns. Is Frisk talking to themself? Is that some human ritual they do?

               “He isn’t stupid. “

               “You just say that because you’re in love with him.”

               “Can you quit it? “

               “Quit what?”

               “Everything! Being here, haunting me with flashbacks and twisted memories – do you like to torture me?”

               “Don’t forget that I am human too, Frisk. I am able to obtain determination.”

               “For what? To-to take control of me?”

               “To take over your weak little body and slit every humans throat on the surface.”

               Chills run down Sans’ back, and nostalgia tickles his arms. That sounds like someone he knew, but a much more hateful version.

               “Fuck you,” Frisk hisses. It sounds like they’re crying again.

               Sans stands there in the dark hallway, listening to the cries that escape Frisk on the other side of the door, oblivious to the skeleton standing there. Time goes past before Sans moves from his spot and drags himself back to the couch. When he lies down, Chara clouds his mind. Their small, frightening smile. The fire that flared in their eyes. The blood that covered their shirt.

               Sans barely gets any sleep that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Remember how I tagged SansxFrisk? Yup. Annnnnd just so people don't get mad at me, I don't actually plan on any Sans and Frisk action. I don't think Sans and Frisk would do that stuff with each other... that's weird to imagine for me. Chara is just teasing Frisk. If you DO like that stuff, sorry! Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed the long-ish chapter :) Thank you so much for all the kudos and for commenting! I didn't think so many people would like it! ALSO. I'll be updating sooner than you expect ;)


	5. Judgment Hall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In Waterfall, Frisk is vulnerable. In judgment hall, Frisk is also vulnerable. Also, Chara is being a baby.

The room is bright. They’re lying in bed, the soft blanket up to their chin. Frisk inhales deeply and exhales slowly. They blink through the light from the open window.

               “’Morning, Frisk.”

               Frisk looks at the skeleton that sits on the end of the bed by their feet. They sigh.

               “I guess I should get up…”

               “Yup, we’ve got a date with destiny. By that I mean we should go for a walk through Waterfall.”

               Frisk nods,” Yeah, sure.”

               Frisk reluctantly gets out of bed and stands up, stretching their arms above their head. What happened?

               **_Did you forget? You fell asleep on Sans and he had to lug your heavy body up the stairs and put you in his own bed, then sleep on the stiff couch. Then, you had a lovely, lovely dream._**

Frisk pauses. At first, guilt starts to course through them, then the nightmare hits them like a bucket of ice dumped over their head. The nightmare, and the little chat they had with Chara. They remember it all clearly now. The nightmare was about being on the surface, then Chara took over and… and they killed everyone. First, it was Toriel in the middle of the night. Then, they went to Papyrus and Sans apartment. They killed Papyrus first, just to get Sans mad. Then they fought Sans.

               “Kid, you okay?”

               Frisk nods, “yeah, yeah I’m fine. You shouldn’t have let me sleep in your bed, Sans.”

               Sans waves a hand,” Nah, it’s fine. As long as you’re comfortable, I’m fine with whatever.”

               Frisks heart warms. They grin at Sans fondly, which Sans doesn’t see because he’s opening the door. He lets Frisk walk through first and closes the door once he’s through. They walk through Snowdin to Waterfall and stop at the first waterfall they come across. Sans sits down against the wall, and Frisk sits beside them. The sound of the waterfall gushing fills the silence. The ground is hard, and the wall is stiff, but Frisk doesn’t mind- they just like Sans’ presence. But for some reason, Sans seems… tense. His eyes are far away, watching the water flow down it’s path. His arms are crossed, and he’s leaning away from Frisk. They frown.

               “Is there something you wanted to talk about?” Frisk asks.

               Sans doesn’t talk for a long time. Frisk doesn’t think he will respond, but he does.

               “Sometimes, I wish you never fell in here. I wish you stayed away. But most of the time… I can’t think of a life without you.”

               Frisk lets the silence sink in once he’s finished.

               _I can’t think of a life without you, either._

_**I didn’t know I fell into a goddamn romance novel.**_

               The fuzzy, happy feeling dissolved away with Charas words.

               **_A gross romance novel, at that. A skeleton and a human? Kinky!_**

A deep hole of sadness and emptiness digs itself in Frisks’ stomach.

               **_Except, it can’t be a perfect little romance novel when it’s unrequited, and he will end up leaving once he finds out the truth about how crazy you are... more like a drama show!_**

               “Frisk?”

               Frisk swallows. They look at Sans.

               “Never let me go,” Frisk pleads.

               Sans frowns. He takes their hand in his, lacing their fingers together. Frisk closes their eyes and lets their head drop against the wall. There is safety hidden in Sans’ bones that wrap around Frisk like a security blanket. The gushing water fall fills the sad, confused silence.

               The comfortable bubble is popped when Frisk receives a call. They sigh and open their eyes. They don’t let go of Sans’ hand, just slipping out their phone with their free hand. It’s Papyrus. He’s asking where Sans is at. Frisk tells him they don’t know, they haven’t seen him in a while. Papyrus groans and hangs up. They look at Sans, who’s looking back at them.

               “Papyrus is looking for you.”

               “I know.”

               “You should go.”

               “I know.”

               “I don’t want you to go.”

               Sans looks down at their joined hands.

               “I don’t want to go.”

               Frisk wonders what he’s thinking. They squeeze his hand. Sans sighs, and he lets go of their hand, and he stands up. Frisk watches him walk away from them, away from where they sit.

               “I’ll see you ‘round, pal,” Sans calls without looking back.

               “Later, Sans,” Frisk murmurs.

               Frisk sits there for a few more minutes, listening to the water gushing. Chara is unusually silent. Even monsters enjoy peace and quiet, sometimes.

 

 

               Frisks footsteps are heavy and loud as they walk through the hall. The orange tiles glare at them. The light pouring in from the window has the desire to blind them. Frisk sees Sans standing there with pitch black eye sockets and a grim look on his face. A ghost of a smile stains his face. An uneasy feeling sits at the bottom of Frisks stomach.

               Frisk walked through the rest of the underground after Sans left them at the waterfall. They didn’t see Sans at all, which was strange. They met Alphys again, went through the lasers again, went through the core again- all without killing anyone. Chara, as usual, was upset by this. Frisk was upset by them being upset by this. Eventually, Frisk walked down the pathway leading to the judgment hall. They saved at the save point and wondered if Sans was going to even be here since they haven’t seen him since Waterfall. They walked down the hall, footsteps heavy and loud. Sans is there.

               “Heya. You’ve been busy, huh?”

               _Wh…What…? This… isn’t this what he said when…_

_**When I killed everyone? Genocide? Yeah. I noticed too.**_

               “So. I’ve got a question for ya. Do you think you can fool me?”

               “What do you mean?”

               “I’m not a fool, Frisk. I know you aren’t telling me something. And if you don’t tell me… you aren’t passing me, and you’re going to have a bad time. Forever.”

               Frisk gapes.

_He knows._

_**Fucking duh he knows something is up. But… you know he’s going to have a bad time as well. He likes you as much as you like him.**_

**** _Platonically._

_**Platonically.**_

“How do you know?”

               “One of the key reasons is that I heard you talking to someone last night. Yourself. But… it wasn’t you. Unless you have a personality disorder.”

               “I don’t have a personality disorder.”

               “Then what is it?”

               Frisk hesitates. They swallow thickly.

               “You’re going to think I’m crazy.”

               “I’m prepared for anything, babe.”

               Frisks mind blanks for a second. Their heart flutters.

               **_Babe? How sweeeeeeeeet. Straight outta a romance novel._**

Frisk can’t do this. Their throat is filled with sand, and they can’t do this. But they have to.

               “C’mon, kid,” Sans says impatiently.

               Frisk sucks in a big breath. “Okay. Okay, I’ll start with the beginning.”      

Frisk explains. They explain everything from the first reset to now. Everything about Chara, about them whispering in their ear, about Chara trying to control them… everything. And Sans just stands there and takes it. By the end of it, Frisks voice is cracking and their throat is dry. Sans pauses.

               “I don’t think you’re crazy, so you’re wrong there.”

               Relief fills Frisk.

               “And I’ve got a little secret… I knew Chara. I was a little kid – about 8 or so – when I first met them. From what I saw of them… I know they aren’t a good kid.”

               **_I’m fucking older than you, baby rattle._**

“They called you a baby rattle,” Frisk says quietly.

               Sans snickers. “’Course they did. Anyways, I trust you, Frisk. You’re a good person, and you aren’t crazy.”

               Frisk lets a small, relieved grin show on their face.

               “But. I wish you would have told me earlier, y’know?”

               Frisk frowns, but nods.

               “Now, that I know whats actually goin on here, we should figure out a way to get rid of that dirty, messed up, killer.”

Suddenly, the room goes black in a blink of an eye. Everything around them vanishes. Then, something soft beneath them. Something tickles their ankles. They open their eyes. In half a second, Frisk realizes they are back at the start. Chara had reset. _Chara. Fucking. Reset. Everything._

               “What the _fuck_ , Chara!?”

               “What’s wrong, Frisk?” They ask innocently.

               “You fucking know what’s wrong, dipshit.”

               “ **Oooh, breaking out the curse words! Where did you learn that one from?”**

“Sans. “

               “ **Ugh. Of course. “**

“Why did you reset? I was talking to Sans! You never reset during a conversation- you never reset randomly except for the very first time.”

               **“What can I say? Sans pissed me off.”**

“It’s more than that. Both of us know it.”

               **“Leave the brains to me, Frisky. Actually, leave the brain _and_ the beauty to me- you’ll be the brawn. Actually, I’m that, too… you can’t hurt someone to save the damn world.”**

“The ability to hurt and physical strength are two very opposite things.”

               **“See, you’re the _nerdy_ brains, and I’m the useful brains.”**

Frisk huffs out a breath, and walks forth. Time to go through the ruins. Again. They don’t talk to Chara at all. When they get to flowey, for some reason, they black out for a second. Minutes that feel like seconds later, they’re being attacked by ‘friendly pellets’ Flowey is throwing. Frisk is confused for a second, but brushes it off. It’s probably just side-affects from the reset. Except they never had side-affects from a reset before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aye new chapter! Don't know how I feel 'bout this one but I'm probs just being too much of a critic. Anyways, I hope you liked it! New chapter will be up in a few days :) Thanks for all the kudos and comments and feedback! I really really appreciate it.


	6. The Adventures in Grillbys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once Frisk gets back to Snowdin, them and Sans hang out at Grillbys and try to come up with a way to get rid of Chara. Frisk offers an idea, but Sans shoots it down instantly. Frisk is confused. Basically fluff stuff and pun fun.

               When Frisk finally gets out of the Ruins, they feel like sprinting to the bridge to finally see Sans again. This time, Sans doesn’t bother being stealthy- he’s standing right at the bridge. He grins at them.

               “Thanks for ditching me,” Sans says jokingly.

               “Yeah, sorry… Chara didn’t like what you said.”

               “That jackass can reset, too?” Sans asks.

               Frisk sighs and nods. “Remember when I said sometimes it just reset randomly? Um, I was lying. It never resets randomly. It’s either me or Chara doing the resetting – always.”

               **_For gods sake, you guys treat me like I’m the devil._**

 **** _You are._

_**Shut up, Frisky. You’re the one who wants to sin with a skeleton.**_

Frisk suppresses the urge to roll their eyes. Sans gestures across the bridge.

               “Wanna go through Papyrus’ puzzles or just head to Grillbys?”

               “We should go through like normal, or things might change – in a bad way.”

               “True. Alright, c’mon, you know the drill with the lamp and the jokes and blah blah blah.”

               Frisk smiles at him as he walks across. They’re glad they have him.

**_Hate to break it to ya, but Sans won’t stick around forever. He’s several years older than you, and a monster. He doesn’t want to spend forever with a damn human. _ **

              A frown crosses their face.

_But… we spent every day with each other on the surface. Sans chose to spend time with me._

**_Are you being serious? Are you that blind?_ **

_What?_

**_He was chatting up Toriel the entire. time. I can’t believe you didn’t see it… Ah, buddy, he was never interested in you; he was interested in your mom._ **

_Toriel is older, though!_

**_You don’t know how old she is. She could be 30 for all you know. Hell, I don’t even know how old she is. But it’s still legal if she ends up being 50. _ **

Sans looks at them curiously once they reach the other side of the bridge. He places a hand on their shoulder, and they jolt.

               “You okay, Frisk?”

               “I’m fine. I’m fine.”

               Frisk walks to the lamp before Sans can say anything else. They don’t notice Chara’s amusement.

 

               The place is quieter than before. Maybe it’s because they’re used to the noise. Whatever it is, it’s quiet, and Chara is loud.

               **_Ask him about Toriel. Go ahead, ask him!_**

Frisk grits their teeth. Sans orders 2 burgers. They grip their knees.

               **_Or… do you want me to ask him?_**

Frisks’ eyes widen. Fear floods through them, cold and draining. Sans eyes them with a strange expression.

               “Is Chara being a jerk?” Sans asks.

               Frisk nods.

               **_Oh, am I? I’m sure Sans would LOVE to know how I feel about him. Wanna let me take control for a bit, Frisky Frisk?_**

“They want to take control and tell you how they really feel,” Frisk confesses.

               Sans sighs. “I know what Chara is gonna say about me, and it isn’t anything nice.”

               “Chara doesn’t say anything nice about anybody.”

               “That’s true.”

               **_Not true! I say nice things about - ..._**

 **** _About who?_

_**Myself.**_

The two burgers are placed in front of the two. Frisk digs in instantly, desperate to satisfy the empty hole their hunger has created in their stomach. When Frisk glances at Sans, he’s pouring the entire ketchup bottle onto his burger. They chuckle. Sans looks at them.

               “What, you got a problem with my ketchup-love?” Sans asks.

               “Nope, not at all,” Frisk says, turning back to their burger.

               A moment later, they’re glancing at the skeleton again to see him pouring the ketchup into his mouth. Frisk stifles a grin with their hand. Sans meets their gaze, and sets the bottle down.

               “Hey, don’t knock it till you try it,” Sans scolds, picking up his burger.

               “Sans, I’ve tried ketchup before. It’s not that good.”

               Sans rolls his eyes. “You’re just a loser.”

               “ _You’re_ a loser.”

               “I can time travel.”

               Frisk raises their eyebrows.

               “You’re lying.”  

               Sans shakes his head, chewing on his burger. Hope explodes inside Frisk like a bomb made of confetti.

               “Sans, you can time travel back and kill me before I ever fall into the underground!” they exclaim, eyes wide and food forgotten.

               Sans immediately shakes his head. Frisk gapes at him.

               “We can stop Chara – do you not want that?”

               “’Course I want to stop Chara, but I’m not doing it.”

               Frisk looks at him like he kicked a puppy. The skeleton ignores the look and tells Grillby that he’s going to have to buy more ketchup. At that, Grillbys fire flickers and he walks into the back to grab more ketchup bottles. Frisk huffs and pokes the side of Sans’ head. He glances at them.

               “Frisk, I’m not going to kill you, and that’s that. “

               “You’ve done it before,” Frisk snaps.” Why can’t you do it now?”

               Sans sighs and turns away. “I’m not discussing this.”

               Frisk turns Sans’ barstool around so the skeleton is facing them again.

               “Yes, you are. Why won’t you do it?”

               Sans locks his jaw. He looks at Frisk with a weak glare. 

“I’m not letting you go, Frisk.”

               Frisk swallows. Grillby sets down another ketchup bottle on the counter, then walks away. Sans looks back at his plate, and picks up his burger once again. Frisk glances at their burger, then looks away. They aren’t hungry.

               “Sans.”

               “Drop it.”

               “No.”

               “Frisk.”

               “I’m determined- can you blame me?”

               “…”

               “You’ve killed me before. What’s different this time around?”

               Sans pauses. His fingers play with the strings of his hoodie.

               “This time, it won’t reset.”

               Frisk stares at him. Sans won’t look at them. They take one of Sans’ hand, and they hold it tight. He looks over at them, and they smile reassuringly.

               “I’ve got another question for you, Sans,” Frisk says.

               “Oh, really?” Sans asks, smiling weakly.

               “Do time travelers ever get hungry and go back… _four seconds_.”

               A smile breaks out onto his face, and he runs his free hand down his face, chuckling. Frisk is smiling at him. He looks cute trying to stifle his amusement.

               **_He also looks cute with his eye glowing blue, don’t ya think?_**

 **** _Chara, Sans is always cute._

_**No.**_

“That was a good one, babe,” Sans says.

               Frisk can feel their heart fluttering like a butterfly trying to escape a cage. They eat the rest of their burgers, holding hands underneath the counter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn Daniel, back at it again with a new chapter! ( that's the new meme if you don't get it ) ANYWAYS, NEW CHAPTER! I was surprised I had time to edit and upload this, but here it is and here I am :) hope you liked the fluffy chapter! Be prepared for the next chapter... it'll probs be uploaded on Friday or Saturday, 3-4 days from now


	7. Asriel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk offers up an idea to get rid of Chara, and Sans takes it. So they put the plan into action, but instead of making things better... things get worse.

               “So,” Sans says, picking up his burger.” Have any ideas on how to get rid of the devil?”

               **_Did he just call me the devil? Well, I_ am _smoking hot…_**

               “Exorcise them?” Frisk jokes.

               “…we could try that,” Sans shrugs.

               Frisk raises their eyebrows,” Exorcism? Sans, Chara isn’t a demon.”

               “No, but they have attached themself to you somehow, they’re sharing bodies with you, like demons do. It probably won’t work, but we can try.”

               “How do we do an exorcism? Do you know how?”

               “I have a book made for just that. I just say a few words, and ca-blam, Chara is out of our lives forever. “

               “Wow. That sounds easy.”

               “Well… you have to be tied to a chair. And you have to let Chara take control of you.”

               “…oh.”

               “Yeah.”

               “Let’s go then.”

               “Alright.”

              

               Frisk is sitting in a small wooden chair in the center of Sans’ room. The curtains are drawn, the room is dark, there’s a book in Sans’ hands, and Frisks hands are tied behind them. Sans nods at them, and with a deep breath, Frisk allows Chara to take control. The transition is fast and subtle, but Sans can tell when Chara has surfaced. Their expression is guarded, and a small grin grows on their face. Even after all these years, fire is still burning in those eyes of theirs; Sans never liked their eyes.

               “How you doing, Chara? “

               “ **I’m awesome, rattles. How’s your brother? Last time I talked to him, I was choppin’ off his head.”**

               “He shouldn’t be on your mind when you’re about to die.”

               Chara snickers,” **You think I’m gonna die? If this works, which it won’t, I’ll just be set free into the underground, forced to find another body. Actually, that’s a great idea! I could take control of you, then kill Frisk, AND you brother while you watch helplessly! That would be _fun_.”**

Sans laughs. It’s hollow. Chara’s haunting grin falters.

               “You’re still as _stupid_ as I remember.”

               “ **Stupid? Bones, I’m the one who resurrected myself- I don’t see _you_ doing that. “**

Sans stares at them. They look back at him, the fire roaring in their glaring eyes. He sighs and sticks a hand into the pocket of his jacket, holding the book with one hand. Chara eyes him. The room is cold; Sans is colder.

               “I also remember you hangin out with that other kid. You guys were inseparable. He always carried around that camera around with him and took videos of everything and everyone. Do you remember, Chara?”

               Chara grits their teeth. The flames in their eyes are fierce.

               “Something Dreemurr… you would know, Chara. He was your brother. He was a happy soul – I wonder what happened to him… When you died, he went into a bad state of depression.”

               “ **Shut up, dick.”**

“He never went outside. He stayed holed up in the castle, all because of you.”

               **“Sans, shut up if you know what’s good for-“**

“I heard that he tried to kill himself a week after you died. “

               “ ** _Shut. Up.”_**

“Oh, don’t worry- It’s just a rumor. I’m sure it wasn’t true. Although, I know he _did_ try to bring you back. He walked through Snowdin, all the way to the woods. I followed him. You know what I saw, Chara? “

               Chara swallows.

               “I saw him bury you. He had this huge basket of beautiful, bright flowers that he carried, and he set them on your grave. There were white ones, yellow ones, pink ones… he mostly had red ones. Aren’t those your favorite? The red ones? He put them on your grave. You know what shape? It was a heart shape. He loved you, and you _crushed him._ “

               Chara has tears gathered in their eyes that slip out with Sans’ last words. A sob escapes them, and they strain against the ropes.

               “ ** _I fucking hate you, Sans,”_** Chara rasps.

               Sans watches them. Chara squeezes their eyes shut as sobs rip from them. They fill the silence of the house. Sans feels nostalgia creep up his back. And numbness.

               “Kingdoms of the earth, sing unto God, sing praises to the Lord by way of heaven, the heavens of the ancient…”

               Chara doesn’t seem to notice Sans talking. Their sobs come out as steadily as before.

               “..glory of thy Father.”

               Nothing happens. Sans frowns.

               _Maybe if I… said it in Latin?_

“Regna terrae, cantata Deo…”

               This time, Chara stops crying. They look at Sans, eyes red and glassy. Chara leans back in their chair, recovering from their emotional breakdown surprisingly fast.

               “…glori Patri,” Sans finishes hesitantly.

               Sans stares at Chara. A small smirk flickers over their face, and their eyes blaze with amusement. They sit, relaxed with no trace of sadness left on their face.

               “ **Silly, silly Sans...“** Chara smirks, full of amusement. **“I know you were lying through you damn _teeth_ about Asriel. I know what happened after I died, but I just wanted to mess with you. Give you hope that you broke me, that you were going to get rid of me. Hope is a great weapon, huh?”**

Sans slowly closes the book. Dread begins to crawl spread through him. Chara smirks, reading Sans like a book.

               **“Anyways, I didn’t appreciate you lying to me – especially about my brother. You know what I’m going to do now? Huh, Sans? C’mon, trash bag, guess!”**

Sans doesn’t respond. He doesn’t play the game with Chara. Chara doesn’t seem disappointed. The fire in their eyes grow along with their smirk. They lean forward, staring at Sans with a murderous look.

               **“Frisk isn’t going to have a good time,”** Chara whispers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ha... don't hate me :))))))))))
> 
> also, sorry this is a little short- the last chapter and this chapter were supposed to be combined, but then I was like eh I think I should split them into two, so that's why. And yes, that is the exorcism chant from Supernatural because I don't know any exorcism chants... but yeah comment if you liked it, if you didn't, if you loved it, if you hated it


	8. Sunshine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk is starting to face Chara's wrath, and Frisk asks Sans about his relationship with Chara. Also, Papyrus sings.

It’s bright. Too bright. Too, too bright. The sun is inches away. Doesn’t make sense. Can’t feel heat. Bright, so bright.

               “I know it’s bright, Frisk, but you have to open your eyes. Please, Frisk.”

               Sans. Comfort. Safe.

               “Safe, huh? I… I’ve never been called _safe_ before… or comfort. But okay. I’ll keep you safe, babe. I’ll comfort you.”

               Babe. Love. Safety.

               “Uh, you like when I call you babe, I’m guessing?”

               Bright. Sans.

               “Yeah, I know, Frisk, but you have to open your eyes. Please. Stay determined.”

               Determined. Stay determined. For Sans.

               The humans eyes slowly open. They blink against the brightness of the room. When they can see clearly, they look around. They’re in Sans’ room, lying on his bed. Sans is standing next to the bed, leaning over Frisk. He sighs, relaxing.

               “Thank god,” Sans murmurs.

               Frisk frowns. They don’t know what happened. They try to recall memories, but all they can remember is being in Grillbys with Sans and talking about… exorcisms?

               “Sans, what happened to me?” 

               Sans looks hesitant. He scratches his head. Frisk narrows their eyes at him.

               “I, uh… did something not so good.”

               “… what did you do…?”

               Sans sighs. He doesn’t look at Frisk.

               “In grillbys- do you remember that?”

               “Kind of. I knew we were talking about exorcisms.”

               “Right. Well, we came back here, to my room, and I tied you up to the chair to do the exorcism…”

               “…Yes?”

               “And I tried it. But… it-it didn’t work. I pissed Chara off, and they aren’t happy with me- or you.”

               Frisk glances at the chair with rope coiled up on the floor in the middle of the room.

               “I pissed them off a lot, Frisk,” Sans says, finally looking at the human. “They’re gonna… do something to you. I have no idea what, but they said you’re gonna have a bad time, and fuck, I messed up majorly.”

               Frisk frowns. “Sans, hey. It’s nobody’s fault. I don’t know exactly what happened, but from what I know about you, I know it wasn’t intentional. And I went along with the plan, didn’t I?”

               “Yeah, but they weren’t pissed at the exorcism: they were pissed with what I said.”

               Sans groans, shaking his head. “Sorry, you’re the one who needs help, not me. You’re the one with Chara in you. Fuck. _Fuck_.”

               “No, it’s fine, Sans,” Frisk reassures.” You can’t let it all pile up inside you and lock it away. You need to get it off your chest.”

               Sans doesn’t look at them. He stares at the chair in the middle of the room. Frisk sits up, and they lean over and wrap their arms around the skeleton. Sans inhales sharply. Frisk hugs tighter. Sans’ arms wrap around Frisk, and in that moment, everything is okay.

               Then, they pull back, and everything isn’t okay again.

               “I’m sorry.”

               “I forgive you.”

               Sans starts to argue, but stops. He stands up, and he helps Frisk get out of bed.

               “Listen, Frisk. If anything _at all_ happens-“

               “I’ll tell you everything that goes on with Chara,” Frisk reassures.” I promise. Now, how ‘bout we head to Grillbys? I’m starving!”

               Sans smile weakly. He leads the way to the door, opening it for Frisk. As Frisk walks through, a few memories begin to trickle in.

               _“So what? Exorcise them?”_

_“…we could try that.”_

_“Exorcism? Sans, Chara isn’t a demon.”_

_“No, but they have attached themself to you somehow, they’re sharing bodies with you. It probably won’t work, but we can try.”_

               When they get to Grillbys, the place is as full as usual. The smell of fire and leather flows around them. The jutebox is playing, the chatter is loud, and Grillby is cleaning some glasses. Sans leads the way to a booth away from the crowd. He slides into one side, and Frisk slides in the seat across from him. The seat is cushiony and bouncy. Sans calls for two fries, and Grillby gives him a thumbs up.

               “So, how ya feeling?”

               Frisk shrugs,” I’m alright. I’m starting to remember some things.”

               “Like what?” Sans asks.

               “Us talking about the exorcism. That’s it, though.”

               Sans nods. He looks relieved. Grillby walks over, his shoes clicking on the hard floor. He sets the two fries down, his fire flickering low. Sans tells him to put it on his tab, and Grillbys fire crackles. Sans smiles at him. Grillby stands there for a few seconds, then picks up one of Sans’ fries and throws it at his face. Frisk covers their smile with their hand as Grillby walks away.

               “Shut up,” Sans grumbles. He’s smiling.

               Frisk bursts out into laughter, and Sans’ smile grows. He throws a fry at the human, and it hits Frisks cheek. They gape at him. He smirks. They instantly pick up a handful of fries and throw it at the skeleton. He cringes as the fries pelt him in the face, and Frisk cracks up into more laughter. Sans chuckles.

               “You’re a dick,” He says.

               Frisk smiles at him. He’s smiling at them, his eye sockets pitch black. A frown slowly crosses Frisks face as Sans’ smile grows wider. It’s not a genuine smile – it’s a dark smile, a hollow one.

               “Sans…?”

               Sans leans across the table. His left eye glows blue.

               “Kids like you should be burning in hell.”

               “Frisk?”

               Frisk inhales sharply. Their heart is pounding in their chest rapidly. They blink at Sans. He’s frowning at them from across the table. Their eye sockets aren’t pitch black, and his left eye is definitely not glowing blue. He’s leaning back in the seat, worried and concerned.

               “You okay, babe?”

Frisk looks at him. They don’t know whether to blush or to cry. So, of course, both happens. A blush heats up their face, and tears begin to sting in their eyes. They blink them away and try to hide their face by looking down.

               “Y-yeah, I’m okay.”

               “You promise you’d tell me everything that went on with Chara.”

               “Nothing went on with Chara. Truthfully, Sans.”

               Sans seems hesitant, but he nods. He picks up a fry and eats it. Frisk looks down at their fries. They aren’t hungry.

               “Maybe we should just go home. You should rest.”

               “No, no, it’s fine,” Frisk says instantly. “I can handle this. I can do this.”

               Sans looks unsure, but he doesn’t argue. They sit in silence, eating their fries slowly. When Frisk looks at Sans’ fries and sees nothing but ketchup, they snort.

               “You want some fries with that ketchup?” Frisk jokes.

               Sans grins,” I haven’t had fries in a while. We have a lot to ketchup on.”

               Frisk laughs and shakes their head. Sans smirks.

               “That was good, you gotta admit it.”

               Frisk smiles at him. “That was pretty good.”

Sans grins at them. Frisk wonders where Chara is at. They haven’t said anything ever since they woke up. Huh…

               “Hey Sans?”

               “Yeah, kiddo?”

               “Were you and Chara friends?”

               Sans splutters. He shakes his head vigorously.

               “No, god no. I was set off by them from the moment Asriel introduced us.”

               “Asriel introduced you guys?”

               Sans nods, biting off a part of a fry. “Yup. I was walking back home from the lab and Asriel ran up to me with a human. I heard of a human falling down here, but nobody saw them. There was gossip around the underground that the human was adopted by the royal family. Asriel introduced us, and took a picture of us together. I think I still have it, actually. “

               “Why were you off set by Chara?”

               “When Asriel introduced us, Chara looked at me funny. There was this glint in their eyes and their smile… Chara has always been creepy. I think they knew I didn’t like them, too. Asriel was oblivious. Then, this one time, I went into my workshop – you’ve been in it before – and I found Chara snooping through my blueprints and research I was doing with… with a friend. Anyways, I hate that human. “

               _He fucking burnt my shoe off! I accidently messed with one of his blueprints, and he got super pissed at me. His eye turned blue – like in the judgment hall – and he blasted straight through my shoe. Luckily, I only received mild burns on the top of my foot, but god… he could have burnt my foot off._

“Yeah. I hate Chara, too.”

              

 

               Frisk and Sans sit on the couch, eating popcorn and watching anime. Sans confessed that Alphys got him into anime, and Frisk said that they’ll try it out. So now, they’re watching Death Note; they’re on the 5th episode, and Frisk is on the edge of their seat.

               The front door flies open, and Papyrus marches inside. The door shuts loudly. Sans pauses the episode and smiles at his brother.

               “Hey, Paps.”

               “HELLO BROTHER! HELLO FRISK!”

               Frisk grins at him. Papyrus glances at the tv screen and confusion clouds over him.

               “WHAT ARE YOU WATCHING?”

               “Just some anime. Wanna join?”

               “I WOULD, BUT I MUST COOK DINNER! I WILL BE IN THE KITCHEN BEING EXCELLENT!”

               Frisk smiles as Papyrus marches past them and into the kitchen like he’s on a mission to save the world. They glance at Sans, who’s watching his brother walk into the kitchen with a grin. He meets Frisks gaze. They look back at the tv screen. Sans plays it.

               By the time they’re starting the 7th episode, Papyrus walks out. Frisk glances at him, eyes widening when they see the large, sharp knife in Papyrus’ hand. Something sparks in Papyrus’ eye sockets. He stares at Frisk with a hollow smile.

               “Human.”

               Frisk swallows thickly. Papyrus starts walking toward them, and Frisks heart beats faster. They start to scoot away from Papyrus and end up bumping into Sans. They look at Sans. His eye is glowing blue and his smile is hollow. Frisk is breathing quickly, heart racing. They look back at Papyrus, then at Sans. They’re trapped. They’re fucking _trapped oh fucking god this is bad._

“Frisk? Hey!”

               Frisk jolts. Their heart pounds in their chest, shaking their rib cage.Sans is looking at them, worried. His cold hand is on their shoulder. Papyrus is standing in the doorway of the kitchen, looking at Frisk, confused.

               “I-I-“

               “Don’t say you’re okay because I know you aren’t,” Sans interrupts.

               “Human, “Papyrus says in a sad tone,” please tell us what is wrong.”

               Frisk can’t look at them. They can’t look at them and risk seeing…

               “Can I be put to bed?” Frisk asks weakly. They feel small.

               “Sans, they should have some rest,” Papyrus states.

               Sans sighs. “I-I guess. C’mon, bucko, I’ll put you to bed.”

               Sans puts a hand out for Frisk to take. Frisk takes his cold hand, their fingers lacing together. They stand up, and Sans leads Frisk upstairs and to his room. Papyrus watches worriedly. When Sans closes his door, Papyrus returns to his cooking.

               “Sorry my hand is always cold,” Sans says as they walk in, letting go of Frisks hand.

               “I don’t mind. Mine can warm yours up.”

               Sans half-smiles. Frisk crawls into Sans’ bed, and Sans pulls the blanket up. He sits on the edge of the bed, and he runs his hand through Frisks hair. They close their eyes. Cold, boney fingers run through their hair, tugging on it slightly each time he runs his hand through. Frisk doesn’t mind it. Soon, sleep pulls Frisk in. Sans sits there for a few more minutes even though he knows they’re asleep. With a small sigh, he stands up and exits the room. He goes downstairs and eats with Papyrus. He eats half of the plate of spaghetti.

 

 

Papyrus wakes up when he hears a strange sound. He sits up in bed, listening intently. When he hears it again, he gets out of bed. He tip-toes to his door and opens it. It creaks open, and he steps out. He stands still and listens. It’s coming from Sans’ room, which Frisk is staying in. He frowns, and walks quietly to Sans’ room. He slowly opens the door and steps in. The noise stops instantly.

               “Frisk?” Papyrus whispers.

               “Papyrus,” Frisk says. They sound different.

               Papyrus moves to flick on the light, but Frisks’ voice stops him.

               “N-no, please. “

               “Are you okay, human?”

               “I… no, Papyrus.”

               Papyrus frowns. He walks to the bed, making out the shape in the dark. He sits down, and opens his arms wide. Frisk is soon crawling into them. Papyrus holds them tight and close.

               “I had a nightmare,” Frisk murmurs.

               “Ah,” Papyrus whispers,” nightmares aren’t fun… when I have nightmares, Sans comes into my room or I go into his, and he wraps his arms around me like this, even if I am bigger than him. And then, he tells me a story. It’s different every time. Sometimes, he sings to me.”

               “Is he a good singer?”

               “He’s an _amazing_ singer. I will sing you a song he sings to me, human, but I won’t be as good as him.”

               “That’s okay, Papyrus.”

               “You are my sunshine,

               My only sunshine

               You make me happy

               When skies are grey

               You’ll never know, bro

               How much I love you

               Please don’t take my sunshine away

               The other night, bro

               As I lay sleeping,

               I dreamed I held you in my arms

               When I awoke, dear,

 I was mistaken

So I hung my head and I cry

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

You make me happy, when skies are grey

You’ll never know bro,

How much I love you,

Please don’t take my sunshine away,

I’ll always love you and make you happy

Even if you don’t do the same

If you leave me, like all the rest do

I will still love you anyway

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

You make me happy, when skies are grey

You’ll never know, bro

How much I love you

Please don’t take my sunshine away

Please don’t take my sunshine away. “

               “Was that okay, Frisk?” Papyrus whispers.

               When Frisk doesn’t answer, Papyrus shifts them in his arms to see their face. Their eyes are closed, face slack. Papyrus smiles broadly.

               _Wowie, I was so good I put them to sleep, just like Sans does for me!_

Papyrus lies Frisk back down in bed, covering them with the blanket.

               “Goodnight, Frisk.”

               The skeleton leaves the room and shuts the door. He feels accomplished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo how'd you like it? I'll probs post another chapters soon... but yeah, feedback is always super cool!


	9. Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skeletons are protective - who knew? Also, Frisk goes to the library and Waterfall to come across a certain skeleton who may or may not be a hallucination...

When Frisk wakes up and goes downstairs, Sans and Papyrus are already down there. Papyrus is cleaning the kitchen, and Sans is lounging on the couch reading a book. They reach the bottom, and Sans glances at them with a grin.

               “’Morning, Frisk.”

               “Goodmorning, Frisk!” Papyrus shouts from the kitchen.

               “Goodmorning, Sans, goodmorning, Papyrus. What are the plans for today?”

               Sans closes his book. “Well, I’m gonna stay home and-“

               “No you aren’t, lazy-bones!” Papyrus says, walking closer. He has a duster in his hand. “ _I’m_ going to stay home with the human.”

               “Papyrus, c’mon,” Sans insists, frowning at his brother.

               “Or,” Frisk interjects,” Both of you can go to work and I can stay here.”

               Both of them look at Frisk with scolding expressions.

               “Uh, no.” “No, human, you must have someone looking after you!”

               “I can look after myself,” Frisk snaps.

               “Frisk, have you seen yourself?” Sans asks.

               Frisk glares at him,” What is _that_ suppose to mean?”

               Sans sighs,” Frisk-“

               “I am an adult and I can take care of myself,” Frisk states sharply.

               Sans shares a glance with Papyrus. Frisk glares at them. Frisk knows that Sans and Papyrus have good intentions, but all their emotions are mixing up and they… they need some space.

               “I need space,” Frisk says aloud.

               “Alright, alright,” Sans gives in,” but I’m checking in every hour, Frisk.”

               “Sounds good,” Frisk says.

               Sans rolls his shoulders, and he stands up.

               “I guess I should get going.”

               “Me too. Human, be careful, okay? Call me if you need something!”

               “I will, Papyrus.”

               Papyrus leaps from the room to put away the duster. Sans turns to Frisk, his hands in the pockets of his jacket. He seems hesitant. He shifts his weight onto one foot.

               “Anything new on Chara?” Sans asks.

               Frisk shakes their head. The silence settles awkwardly for a while before Papyrus walks back into the room. He walks over and pats Frisk on the head. They grin at the skeleton.

               “WE WILL SEE YOU LATER, FRISK! NYEHEHEHEH!” He shouts with a newfound energy.

               He dashes to the door, flinging it open. He steps outside. Sans sighs as he watches Papyrus go out into the underground.

               “I’ll see you soon, Sans.”

               “Later, Frisk.”

               He walks away, shutting the door softly behind him. Frisk stares at the door, lost in their mind. It’s a few minutes later when they’re standing up and heading out of the house, into the cold air. They feel lonely without Chara constantly talking to them. Chara is a huge dick, but Frisk doesn’t like the silence. They hate it. As they walk, all they hear is their boots trudging through the snow, and the whistle of the wind.

               They glance at the buildings they’re passing by, spotting the library. They stop. They turn, and walk into the library. When Frisk walks into the library, the smell of coffee and flowers float softly around them. It’s completely silent save the sound of flipping pages from the two people reading at the tables. They walk across the library, their footsteps shattering the silence. They haven’t been here in a while since Chara always complained when they went in here- but now, Chara isn’t speaking anymore, and Frisk is alone.

               They look at the spines of the books, skimming over the titles. They pick a few up – “The Practical Pyromaniac”, “The Science behind Astral Projection”, “Schizophrenia in Humans”. None of them interest Frisk except “Schizophrenia in Humans”. They’ve heard that word before- could that be what they have, what Chara struck them with?

               _“This includes lack of paranoia, hearing things/voices, confusion, unclear thinking, and lack of determination. These are just few symptoms to look for when…”_

               _Lack of determination… definitely not for me._

               They put the book back. They quickly walk out of the library. They decide that they should go to Waterfall. Instead of going into Waterfall and risk seeing Sans at his stand, they go to the River Person and hop on the boat. They enter Waterfall that way and go to the waterfall Sans and them sat and talked at. Frisk walks across the hard floor, and they stand with their back against the wall. They slide down it, and fall onto the hard ground. The waterfall is the only noise in that fills Frisks ears. They hug their knees to their chest and rest their chin on their knees. They stare at the water.

               “I don’t want to do this anymore,” Frisk whispers,” but I have to.”

               “You don’t have to.”

               Frisk inhales sharply and their head flies up. Their eyes land on Sans, who’s standing in front of them, looking down at them. He looks different from usual. He looks bigger; tougher. His face is stoic and guarded, unlike the usual Sans who is silly and happy, even if he’s forcing it. Frisk ignores the differences.

               "What do you mean?” They ask.

               Sans sits beside Frisk with a heavy sigh. He looks out at the water flowing down stream, his hand running over the rough ground. Frisk spies a tear in the arm of his blue hoodie and frowns.

               “You can end all of this, Frisk. For good,” Sans says once he snaps out of his trance.

               “How?”

               “It ends at the source.”

               Frisk rolls their eyes.” Don’t play riddles with me, Sans- just tell me what’s up.”

               Sans glances at them. He looks tired.

               “You’re the source, Frisk. Chara is connected to you, because you’re the source. Even if you went back in time and killed yourself, it wouldn’t work. Eventually, Chara will find a way to resurrect themself once again.”

               Frisk nods slowly. “So… what are you saying I should do?”

               “Get rid of the source. Getting rid of the source means getting rid of the thing that’s attached the source- Chara.”

               “…you’re telling me I need to die.”

               Sans nods. He isn’t looking at them. Frisk eyes them skeptically.

               Frisk eyes the skeleton. “Sans, you’re basically letting me go, here. Telling me to kill myself.”

               Sans frowns at them.” Frisk, I _never_ want to let you go. I don’t want you to go. But if worse comes to worse and we can’t figure out a way… “

               “Then kill myself.”

               Sans nods. Frisk crosses their arms.

               “How do I know you aren’t a hallucination?”

               Sans shrugs,” Dunno, bud. Gotta trust your gut.”

               He watches the waterfall for a few more seconds. The human stares at him. After a few minutes of silence, Sans stands up with a heavy sigh. 

               “I should get back before Papyrus gets mad. Be careful, Frisk.”

               Frisk nods,” I will. “

               Sans hesitates. Then, he steps forward, and he embraces the human tight. Sans holds Frisk like the world is ending, but Frisk just soaks it all in. His hands grasp their shirt, and his body is pressed up against Frisks. They close their eyes. Time passes, and Sans pulls back reluctantly. He looks at Frisk, longing and pain etched into his features. He walks away.

               “Goodbye, Frisk.”

“Later, Sans.”

               Sans leaves, and Frisk is left alone. Not even Chara is here this time- just the waterfall and Frisks thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OooOOOOooOoOoO what did you think about that last part in Waterfall with Sans? Hallucination? Actually real? Also, I plan on having an actual update schedule *gasp*. I'll try updating every Friday-Saturday and Monday-Tuesday.


	10. Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Frisk arrives back at the house and receives a lecture from Papyrus, they do something, and then Sans and Frisk stuff, and then Frisk confesses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~~~~~~~~~TRIGGER WARNING~~~~~~~~~~~~~!!!!!!!!

               Sans is panting. And running. And searching. And getting frustrated. And worried.

               “Where is that fuckin human,” He groans.

               He went home to check on Frisk about half-way through the day just to find the house completely empty. He searched the entire town of Snowdin for their stupid ass to still have no sight of Frisk. He collapses onto the couch with a groan. His head falls into his hands.

               _I’m going to kill them._

He gets up, angry and worried, and uses his power to transport to Waterfall. As he walks through Waterfall, he wonders if he’s going to have to walk through the whole underground to find them.

               _Frisk… fuckin hell, please be okay so I can kill you._

Sans walks through Waterfall, stopping when he sees Napstablook’s house. Maybe he should see if he saw the human. He walks up to the blue house and knocks on the door a few times. He waits, shoving his hands into his pockets. Soon, the door is opening, and the ghost is floating there in front of him. Sans peeks behind the ghost to see Frisk sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall with headphones on. Their eyes meet Sans. They must have sensed Sans’ anger because their eyes widen and a nervous look appears on their face.

               “Hey, Napstablook,” Sans says, smiling at the ghost.” I came to take Frisk home.”

               “Oh………… okay…..”

               The ghost turns around to face Frisk. “Frisk... Sans is here to take you home……..”

               Frisk grins at Napstablook, refusing to look at Sans. They stand up and sets their head phones down on the ground gently.

               “Thanks for letting me hang out with you, Blooks,” Frisk tells the ghost.

               “No problem…….”

               Frisk walks past Sans into Waterfall, and Sans shoots Napstablook one more smile before shutting the door. He turns around to find Frisk standing there, shyly looking at the ground and rubbing their arm.

               “I would have asked Napstablook about what he thinks about you running around when you’re not well,” Sans says.” But the ghost never takes sides in an argument. He’s super neutral.”

               The corners of Frisks mouth turn up. They look up at him hesitantly. Sans grins at them. Frisk lets the small grin appear on their face.

               “I thought… you seemed pissed off.”

               “Well, yeah. I was worried sick and pissed that you’re wandering around the underground when you aren’t feeling well. But… now I just want to go back to the house.”

               “But… earlier…”

               “What about earlier?”

               Frisk shakes their head,” Nevermind.”

 Sans walks up to them, and he wraps his arms around the smaller one. Frisk instantly hugs back, their arms squeezing Sans. He lets out a breathless chuckle.

               “Jesus, Frisk, you’re killin me here.”

               Frisk laughs. It sounds sad.

               “I want you to know that you make me happy, Sans,” Frisk whispers.

               Sans hugs them tighter.

               “You make me happy, too, babe.”

               Frisk closes their eyes to stop the tears from slipping out.

               _You’re the source, Frisk._

               If Sans truly thinks that’s a choice… then Frisk will take it.

When the two get back to the house, Papyrus throws a fit and lectures Sans about lazing off. Then, Sans explains what happened with Frisk, and Papyrus throws _another_ fit and lectures Frisk about wandering around without supervision. If Frisk was listening, they would have argued, but they were lost in their mind and agreed with everything Papyrus said for the sake of it. Sans eyes them skeptically as this happens, something Frisk doesn’t catch. As soon as Papyrus is done, he huffs and tells them he has to get back to work because he’s doing something important with Undyne. He allows Sans to stay here with the human, and leaves.

               “Can I take a bath, Sans?” Frisk asks weakly.  Sans nods,” Sure, Frisk. “

               Frisk slips past Sans and goes up the stairs, straight to the bathroom. Their heart pounds in their throat as they walk up the steep steps. They walk to the bathroom. Open the door. It creaks. Close it, lock it. Turn on the bath taps. Look in the mirror. Their eyes are glassy. Red, too. The knife is heavy. It’s a stone in their back pocket. They take it out. The blade shines, taunting them. They grip the black handle of the knife and turn it so it’s pointing to their heart, like a compass pointing the way. Frisk swallows thickly. They push the point into their sweater, in front of their heart. They feel it pounding, trying to burst from its cage. Frisk inhales deeply and pushes it harder.

               There’s a cold, boney hand that grips their wrist that holds the knife. Frisks eyes fly open. Sans is standing in front of them. He isn’t smiling. He looks sad.

               “Frisk.”

               Frisk swallows,” You said this is a choice, so I’m fucking taking it.”

               Sans stares at them curiously. Frisk hates it. Frisk hates the silence.

               “Talk, goddamnit!” Frisk cries out.” Tell m-me that I shouldn’t do this, at least not yet! Shit, Sans, _I can’t fucking stand the silence anymore!_ ”

               Sans calmly takes the knife from their hand. Frisk turns away as tears fall down their face. Then, arms wrap around them, tight. Frisk embraces Sans tightly, their face falling onto his shoulder. They cry, but they feel safe in Sans’ arms. Sans has safety and comfort hidden in the fabric of his jacket and stitched into his bones.

               “I don’t want you to go,” Sans murmurs.

               Frisk closes their eyes and hugs Sans tighter.

               “I don’t want to go.”

               “Then don’t.”

               “Okay.”

 

              

               There are so many bubbles piled up on the water that Frisk can’t even see the water. They smother their chin with the bubbles, and they call Sans’ name. In not even a second, Sans is slowly opening the door.

               “You okay?”

               “I’m fine, I just want you to come in here for a second, silly.”

               Sans peeks his head inside and looks at Frisk. He breaks out into a smile when he sees Frisks’ bubble beard.

               “Do you like it?” Frisk asks, wiggling their eyebrows.

               Sans laughs and nods. “Unbelieva-bubble.”

               Frisk smiles widely, then gets an idea.

               “Sans, come here.”

               “I-im already here.”

               “I mean come closer.”

               Blue begins to blossom onto Sans’ cheeks.

               _He’s… he’s blushing blue. That’s cute. Fuck. That’s fucking adorable._

 He hesitantly steps inside and slowly steps closer to the bathtub. Frisk grins eagerly and nods every time Sans looks at them unsurely. Soon enough, Sans is standing right beside the bathtub.

               “Sit down.”

               Sans sits down, blue evenly covering his cheeks. Frisk collects a bunch of bubbles into both of their hands, then leans over and covers Sans’ jaw with it. There’s water seeping onto Sans’ shorts and shirt, but he doesn’t seem to care. He’s staring at Frisk with sparks in his eyes. Frisk is busy smothering his face with bubbles to notice. For once, Frisk is glad Chara isn’t here anymore. Once Frisk is content with their creation of the skeletons bubble beard, they lean back and smile.

               “Can I look in the mirror?”

               “Yes.”

               Sans stands up carefully, water dripping from his clothes and soaking the floor. Frisk stifles a laugh.

               “Sorry, I got you wet.”

               “It’s fine, bud. Let’s see how sexy I look with this bubble beard…”

               Sans looks into the mirror, and the smile that grows on his face makes some of the bubbles pop. Laughter fills the room coming from the skeleton and the human. When it grows silent, Sans stays in the bathroom, sitting next to the bathtub. Frisk is absent-mindedly playing with the bubbles, and Sans is playing with Frisks hand that they have hanging outside the tub.

               “We should talk about what happened,” Sans says.

               Frisks heart drops to the bottom of their stomach. They nod.

               “How did you get that idea in the first place? Killing yourself?”

               Frisk frowns at the skeleton. “Sans, you _told me_ to.”

               The skeleton looks at them curiously. His hand freezes. “Uh, no, I didn’t.”

               They stare at Sans, eyebrows scrunched together. Their mind goes back to the waterfall, with Sans sitting next to them with dirty sleeves and exhaustion in his features and-

               Hallucination. It was a hallucination, wasn’t it?

               “God _damn_ it,” Frisk hisses, running a wet hand down their face.

               “What is it?”

               Frisk sighs, dropping their hand back into the water with a small splash.

_I have to explain what has been happening to Sans. He… he won’t think I’m crazy, right?_

               Frisk expects Chara’s response, but after a few seconds, they realize that Chara isn’t talking anymore. Isn’t present anymore. They sigh.

“Ever since I woke up, I haven’t been in contact with Chara,” The human confesses, not looking at Sans,” but I’ve been having hallucinations. First, it was at Grillbys, then it escalated and… and when you and Papyrus were gone at work, I went to Waterfall just to sit alone by the waterfall we sat at. I had a hallucination of you, and you were giving me advice.”

               “You’ve been having hallucinations,” Sans states flatly.

               Frisk winces. “Yes.”

               Sans sighs. He takes his hand away from Frisks hand. When the human glances over, Sans is rubbing his hand across his face.

               “You didn’t question if the hallucination was real or not?”

               “I did. The hallucination said to trust my gut.”

               “…and you thought I would tell you to kill yourself.”

               “It wasn’t like that, Sans! And you – the hallucination said that it wasn’t a first choice, it was a last choice if we get desperate.”

               “That shouldn’t be a damn choice at all, Frisk.”

               Frisk huffs. “I just want to get rid of Chara, you fucking stupid skeleton.”

               “Yeah, I’m the stupid one, yet you’re the one who trusted a hallucination of me telling you to kill yourself.”

               “ _You don’t understand.”_

Sans locks his jaw. He’s silent for a while.

               “You tell me to never let go of me, but then _you_ go ahead and try to let go. That’s shitty, Frisk. And stupid.”

               Frisk swallows back the guilt.

               “You know what else is shitty?” Frisk asks lowly.” Making Chara do this to me in the first place.”

               They know they hit a soft spot. Sans looks at them, something sparking in his eyes. In an instant, he’s gone. An empty space is left where the skeleton once was. Frisk frowns and scans the room for the skeleton to come across nothing – they’re alone. They groan and slap their forehead.

               _I’m so stupid. Fuck. Fucking shit._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DAMN FRISK THAT WAS SHALLOW. They were an asshat at the end tbh, but at least Frisk confessed and Sans knows and it's sunshine and rainbows... lmao not really. I've come to realized I have fluff in about every chapter... oh well, you guys probably love it. Hope it's not giving you a cavity :D


	11. Science & Anime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk seeks Alphys for help, an anime marathon happens, and Alphys and Sans have a chat.

The lights are bright. The white floor is glowing. It smells like cleaning supplies and… fish. Frisk walks across the white floor of the lab, spying Alphys sitting at their desk, phone in their hand and smiling. Once Frisk gets to her desk, her head snaps up. There’s a blush covering her face.

               “Oh! H-hi, Frisk,” She stammers, quickly putting her phone away. “I-I wasn’t t-talking to Undyne!”

               She laughs nervously, and Frisk decides to let it slip by.

               “Anyway- wh-why did you w-want to see me?”

               “You have to keep this a secret, Alphys.”

               She frowns. “O-okay, but I’m-I’m not good at k-keeping secrets.”

               “I’ve been interested in souls. “

               Alphys looks startled. She turns and faces Frisk, no longer the blushy-mess she was seconds ago.

               “Th-that’s a very big-big topic… but I’ll try to h-help.”      

               “I was reading about them, and I found out that you can combine souls. Is that true?”

               Alphys straightens. “Yes. It-it is hard to find two souls that are com-compatible, but if the right souls come to-together, they can m-merge. “

               “Is there a way to, uh, separate two souls?”

               Alphys hesitates. She scratches her head.

               “Well, yes, b-but it is _ex-extremely_ difficult. I-I’ve never attempted to separate souls a-apart because it’s so dangerous.”

               Frisks hope takes a sharp fall. It’s like going up on a rollercoaster, slowly dancing into the sky, then being plunged downward into the abyss, trusting that the machine won’t crash into hell. But. There is a small chance, even if it’s “ex-extremely difficult.”

               “How would you separate the two souls?”

               “W-well… there are two ways. The s-second way is d-d-dangerous, but the first one is slightly sa-safer. B-basically, you act like the souls are di-different mixtures that are m-mixed together and you have to separate th-them. “

               “And to separate mixtures you have to…”

               “Heat i-it, boil it, while the o-other mixture is-is cool.”

               Frisk pauses. “But souls aren’t mixtures, Alphys.”

               Alphys sighs,” I-I know. I th-think instead of temperature wise, y-you do it mood-wise. Maybe that might work.”

               There’s a loud vibrating that sounds throughout the lab. Alphys takes her phone out of her pocket and taps on the screen. In a blink of an eye, her face has turned from yellow to bright red. Frisk covers their smile with their hand as Alphys begins stuttering incoherent words.

               “I’ll leave you to it, Alphys. You should come by later for an anime marathon- and bring Undyne.”

               Alphys seems to glow even _more_ red at that, now a blubbering mess of stuttering mess of redness and incoherent words. Frisk tries to stifle their smile as they walk back to the lab doors and exit the lab. Once the doors shut and they’re back into Hotland, they let their smile take over their face.

               _Undyne and Alphys are awfully cute together… wait. Was Undyne sending not so cute pictures…????????????_

Frisk stops in place, eyes wide and lips parted. They cringe and try to get the image of a naked Undyne out of their head.

 

              

               Frisk doesn’t see Sans again until that night. Them and Papyrus were setting up the anime marathon they were going to do with the unofficial lovebirds ( aka Alphys and Undyne ). Alphys called earlier and said that she was going to take up that offer Frisk gave, and thus the anime marathon plan was born. For the rest of the afternoon, Frisk stayed in Sans’ room, having hallucinations and trying not to reset; they know it won’t fix anything, but the hallucinations are too much sometimes. The worst one was the one they had of their parents.

               Anyways, them and Papyrus are setting up blankets and pillows in the living room. The two are supposed to be over in 10 minutes, bringing the dvds and popato chisps. Papyrus isn’t really into anime, but he loves to be around his friends. About 5 minutes later, when Papyrus is putting his special anime socks on and Frisk is making sure everything is set, the door creaks open. Frisk stills. They whip around. Sans stands in the doorway, staring back at them with a smile. The door closes.

               “SANS!” Papyrus exclaims, racing down the stairs. “YOU WERE GONE FOR THE ENTIRE AFTERNOON! YOU NEARLY MISSED THE ANIME MARATHON!”

               Sans eyes the blankets and pillows. He shrugs.

               “It’s fine. But now I’m here, so I can join in. Alphys comin’ over?”

               “And Undyne,” Frisk adds.

               Sans nods. He walks over, and he plops down on the couch. Right as he sits down, there’s a knock at the door. Papyrus gasps and dives to the door while Frisk walks over and sits down next to Sans on the couch.

               “I’m sorry,” Frisk says as the door opens.

               “I forgive you,” Sans murmurs as Alphys and Undyne walk in.

               “Alright, losers, are we having an anime marathon or what?”

               They watch 2 seasons of Attack On Titan until 2 am. Undyne stays awake the entire time, yelling at certain parts, causing Alphys to wake up every time she fell asleep. When Alphys wasn’t asleep, she was gasping with wide eyes like it’s the first time she ever watched it. Papyrus commented at certain parts, but mostly kept quiet. Sans and Frisk, who were on the couch, were silent the whole time. Occasionally, they would glance at each other when the other one wasn’t looking. Eventually, when they were half way done with the first season, Frisk finally scooted over and grabbed Sans’ cold hand. Sans didn’t say anything. A few minutes later, Sans is ripping his hand away from the human. Frisk looks at him. He’s not looking at them. They frown, and decide to just snuggle into the side of the skeleton. Apparently, Sans doesn’t like that either, because in in instant he’s shoving Frisk away. When the human looks at Sans, he’s glaring at them.

               “Listen, kid,” Sans snaps,” I tried to go along with you and be nice, but it isn’t workin’. “

               Frisk frowns,” What do you mean?”

               “You’re insane, Frisk. You have a voice in your head telling you to kill people, you’re having hallucinations, and now you think I’m gonna sleep with you or some shit?”

               The show is paused. The others are looking at Frisk. They’re gazing at Sans, tears burning in their eyes and a lump in their throat. They try to swallow it down, but it just makes it worse.

               “Frisk? “

               Frisk blinks. Their hand is still holding Sans’ hand. The others are turned around, still watching the show that isn’t paused. Frisk glances at Sans, who’s looking at them worriedly.

               “Are you okay?” He whispers.

               Frisk swallows. _It was a hallucination. It wasn’t real. Sans doesn’t think you’re insane, because you are NOT. It’s okay._

“Hallucination,” Frisk whispers lowly.

               Sans nods. He lets go of Frisks hand, and Frisks heart drops to the floor, but then, Sans’ arm is wrapping around them and pulling them closer to the skeleton. Frisk snuggles against Sans, and they watch the rest of the anime filled with comfort.

               When 2am rolls around and the anime is finished, Alphys stands and shuts off the tv quietly. Undyne and Papyrus are lying on each other, asleep, and Frisk is lying on Sans, asleep.

               “Sans,” Alphys whispers when Sans stands up, Frisk in his arms,” can I talk to you in the kitchen?”

               Sans nods. He lies Frisk back down on the couch, and after carefully stepping over the two sleeping monsters, he leads Alphys into the kitchen. The second they step into the room, Alphys explodes.

               “Frisk came into my lab to-today,” She blurts in a quiet tone.” Th-they said they were in-interested in s-s-souls, and they asked m-me about souls mer-merging together, and if th-there is a way to se-se-separate souls. Is-is Frisk okay, Sans? I-I didn’t want to-to ask, but I was w-worried.”

               Sans’ thoughts are racing, particularly about what Frisk had asked Alphys.

               “I’m gonna tell you something that you can’t tell anyone, Alphys,” Sans states lowly.

               Chills run down Alphys’ back. “I-I w-won’t tell a-a-anyone, S-Sans.”          

               “Frisk has another soul inside of them- an evil soul. This soul has been haunting Frisk for a long time, and we have tried to find a way to get that other soul out, but we can’t find anything. Can you help us out?”

               Alphys’ eyes are wide, body frozen. She blinks. Sans snaps his fingers in front of Alphys’ face, and she inhales sharply.

               “Of-of course! I’ll do wh-whatever I can!” She exclaims quietly.” I-I will s-set up a room f-for Fr-Frisk to stay in whi-while we conduct the-the tests!”

               Sans smiles,” Thanks, Alphy. I really owe you one.”

               “I’ll do a-anything to help a f-friend in n-need. It isn’t a b-big deal.”

               Sans helps Alphys wake Undyne up, who is a deep sleeper who can sleep through several hurricanes. She ends of waking up when Alphys starts to take off her eyepatch, resulting in a bruise on Alphys’ cheek and Undyne apologizing for the rest of eternity. Instead of waking Papyrus and Frisk, Sans just carries the two of them to bed- first Papyrus, then Frisk. Once the two are tucked into bed, Sans goes downstairs to sleep on the couch. In the darkness, he stares up at the ceiling and thinks. He closes his eyes.

               “Please let Frisk be okay.”

               The whisper dances through the darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ALPHYS! UNDYNE! YAY! Ah man I love Alphys. There will be plenty more of her btw. Who's your fav character in Undertale? Who do you want to see in this fanfic, or see more of? (There will be more Undyne and Alphys btw) also, this chapter is kinda short , but the next chapter is reeeeeeaaaaaaaalllllllllly long, so brace yourself ;)


	12. SOUL vs. SOUL

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk is called into the lab, and Alphys tries to separate Frisk and Chara. It's long, and painful, but it might work.

 

               Frisk wakes up to their phone ringing. They let the phone ring, wondering whether or not they should answer it or not. On the last ring, Frisk accepts the call and presses it to their ear, eyes still shut.

               “Hey,” Frisk says, yawning.

               “F-frisk, I need y-you to come to m-my lab. Right n-now,” Alphys exclaims on the other end.

               Thinking of getting out of the soft, warm, heavenly bed fills them with dread. They suppress the urge to whine like a spoiled child who didn’t get what they wanted for their birthday.

               “I’ll be there as soon as possible.”

               The line goes dead, and Frisk is faced with the treacherous task of getting up. They stay lying there for a few more moments, their body an anchor on the sea floor. Then, they force themself to open their eyes to be blinded by the light pouring in from the window. They tug the blankets off of them, get out of bed, and start towards the door. They walk downstairs, not seeing Papyrus or Sans yet. They head out the door into Snowdin, the cold air wrapping around them and burning their face.

               When Frisk walks into the lab and sees Sans and Alphys standing by the huge screen, they pause. The two monsters look over at the human.

_Why is Sans here?_

“Hey, Alphys…” Frisk says, walking closer.

               Alphys smiles at them,” H-hi Frisk. Um, S-Sans told me last night what h-has been happening with-with you. The other s-soul in your b-body.”

               Frisks eyes widen. They glance at Sans, who shrugs.

               “A-anyway, I have cr-created a room for you to-to stay in. F-follow me.”

               Alphys turns around and starts walking away. Sans and Frisk share a look.

               “How do you know about…”

               “Alphys let the cat outta the bag last night. “

               Frisk sighs, walking along with Sans. “I’m not good at keeping things from you.”

               Sans snorts,”Ya think?”

               Alphys stops at an old, chipping door, which Frisk is 99% sure used to be just a hole in the wall that led to nowhere. She rubs her hands together nervously.

               “Um, you w-won’t be out h-here for a while… but we c-can speak t-to you through the m-monitor. We’ll b-be able to see you a-and hear you, so if-if you need something j-just say it.”

               Alarms ring in Frisks head. _You won’t be out here for a while._ They imagine themself with grey hairs and a wrinkly face in there with Alphys watching anime instead of making sure they’re doing okay.

               “How long will I be in there?”

               “N-not for long, don’t w-worry,” Alphys quickly reassures. “Only un-until the soul s-successfully gets out of y-your body. “

               “What are you going to do with the soul afterwards?”

               “Once it leaves y-your body, there’s a b-big chance it wi-will leave and go in-into the next p-plane of existence, wh-where all dead things g-go.”

               Frisk nods. They look at Sans, who’s looking at them, hands in the pockets of his hoodie. He smiles at them.

               “You up for this?” He asks.

               “Not really, but if it means getting rid of Chara…”

               Sans steps closer to ruffle their hair. A grin appears on the humans face, and they lean close and land a kiss on Sans’ cheek. The hand in their hair freezes. When Frisk pulls back, the skeletons face is burning bright blue. Frisk smiles and pats his jaw. Sans removes his hand from Frisks hair and instead squeezes their hand.

               The whole time, Alphys is smiling and fumbling with their phone, trying to take a picture.

               “Hopefully I’ll see you soon without the crazy disease.”

               Sans grins, “I’ll see you soon without the Chara sickness, kiddo. “

               Frisk looks to Alphys, and she quickly jams her phone back into her lab coat pocket. She grins at the two of them, then opens the door for Frisk to walk through. After a deep breath, the human walks into unknown territory. As soon as they take a step in, the door is slamming shut behind them. Frisk jolts and turns around to face a shut- and probably locked – door. They turn back around and eye the room.

               It’s small. Not too small, though. It’s the size of an average bedroom. It _looks_ like a bedroom. There’s a bed for 1, a bed-side table with a dull lamp that barely brightens the room, a coffee table with a bowl of fruit on it and a candy bar, a dresser that looks oddly familiar. There’s an extra door, which Frisk guesses must be the bathroom. Frisk walks over to the bed with crisp, clean sheets and they sit down on it awkwardly. They look around, trying to find the cameras and the bugging devices, but they can’t spot them. They _can_ see the speakers, though – right by the vent.

               “Frisk,” Alphys’ voice crackles through,” are-are you okay in th-there? “

               “Yeah, I’m good,” Frisk shouts into the room.

               “Okay. N-now, you have to-to let the other soul take con-control of you, no m-matter what.”

               Frisk is slightly confused, but they nod anyway.

               “Y-you might ha-have more hallucinations… b-bad ones… but it’ll b-be okay. You h-h-have to stay determined. “

               “I gotcha. I’ll stay determined.”

               “G-good. “

               It goes silent. Frisk sighs and picks up one of the apples in the fruit bowl, feeling hungry since they didn’t eat breakfast. Upon taking a bite, they realize that it’s a fake apple. They grimace as they swallow it. They place it back on the table. They pick up the candy bar and rip it open. Once they take a bite, they find out it’s not even chocolate – it’s caramel. They feel something twinge deep inside of them, but ignore it and eat the caramel bar. It tastes sour, a flavor a caramel bar shouldn’t be, but they eat it anyways. After that’s finished, they decide to get up and look around. They pull the bed-side drawers open to find a broken heart-shaped locket necklace inside. There’s a jagged crack straight down the middle. Frisk picks it up like it’s a glass butterfly and looks at the two broken, dirty pieces.

               _Isn’t this Chara’s?_

               Anger sparks inside of them. It’s small, like a stick in a forest, but it’s noticeable. Frisk sets the necklace back down and shuts the door. They move onto the top of the bed-side table, with the lamp and a golden flower lying there, wilted. They pick it up and inhale its scent. It smells like death. They set it back down. They glance around the room, spotting the dresser and walking towards that. They open it to find shirts and in there, but all of them have green and crème colored stripes. They shut the doors. As they walk back to the bed, they see someone sitting there. More specifically, a monster with a striped sweater and floppy ears.

               “Frisk!” Asriel shouts, jumping off of the bed and running towards the human.

               Frisks eyes widen as Asriel engulfs them in a hug. They slowly pat the monsters back, wondering how Asriel is here- _why_ he’s here. Soon, Asriel is pulling back and staring at Frisk with soft eyes that sparkle with happiness.

               “I’m glad you’re here, Frisk,” He admits, smiling. “Do you want to bake with me? We can make something for dad!”

               “For…for dad?”

               Asriel nods and walks away. Suddenly, the floor is changing into small tiles, and the room grows smaller. It shifts slowly from Alphys’ lab to a rectangular room. It’s all big empty space except for the counter, which has several blueprints with strange writing on it. There are four drawers all lined up. They stand facing the counter, one of the blueprints in their hands. Except these are definitely not their hands; these hands are paler, smaller.

“What the heck are you doing?” Sans shouts, his voice not the deep one Frisk has come to know. Frisk looks over at Sans who stands by the door. He’s shorter.

His blue hoodie hangs off of him, too big for his small body. His eye doesn’t burn as bright as it normally does – it’s like a light covered by a thin blanket. Then, Frisks foot feels incredibly hot, like they had just stuck it in a fire. They look down to see the whole top of their shoe has been burnt off, and the top of their foot is red. They look at Sans, eyes wide, to see him looking at their foot in surprise.

               “What the frick, Sans?!”

               Frisk hears it, but it isn’t Sans’ voice, and it doesn’t sound their own. It sounds like Chara’s voice.

               “You’re the reason why humans hate monsters,” They hiss at him.

               The skeleton frowns, taking a step back. He looks so, incredibly small – both philosophically and physically. They look down at the blueprint in their hand and rip it in half. The ripping sound is like a gun going off in the room. The tension thickens. They walk to the door, past the frozen Sans. They open the door.

               “When we reach the surface, trash bag,” They say as they step into the cold of Snowdin,” the first thing I’m going to murder is you. “

               “Oh yeah?” Sans challenges, holding the door open with his foot. “Why don’t you do it right now? That’s right- you know I’m more powerful than you.”

               They’re surprised that Sans actually has a comeback. Just seconds ago he was a kicked puppy dog, but now he’s a full grown boxer, growling at the intruder, ready to attack. They glare at Sans like they’re an automatic machine, going through the motions.

 “That’s just because your damn father injected you with go-go juice. My power is one hundred percent natural.”

               “I can still take you down, human.”

               “We’ll see ‘bout that. Meanwhile, have fun being a lab rat while I’m kickin’ it in the castle.”

               They turn around and begin to trudge through the snow of Snowdin. They walk around towards the front of Sans and Papyrus’ house, but the snow and cold begins to fade away. The snow melts away, showing hard stone ground, and the temperature begins to increase, the air turning humid. They take another step, and it’s not even Snowdin anymore – it’s a narrow pathway with the sound of rushing water floating through their ears. A monster walks besides them with a small frown on their face.

               “Chara, you’re so… mean,” Asriel says, looking at them with sad eyes. “Especially to Sans. I see the way you look at him, Chara. It’s- it’s like he murdered your family or something.”

               “Not him,” They murmur. “just his dim-wit dad.”

               “See, that’s what I’m talking about. Calling someone a dim-wit isn’t nice.”

               “Asriel,” They sigh,” you need to understand that-“

               “No, Chara,” Asriel cuts off, stopping,” _you_ need to understand that being nice is what we do in the underground. Like how you should have apologized to dad for putting those flowers in his food instead of laughing. That isn’t nice, Chara. “

               They glare at Asriel. “The other monsters think I’m just fine. In fact, they call me hope! The future of humans and monsters!”

               Asriel frowns.” You can’t be the future when you can’t even help someone stand up.”

 “Asriel, you can go frick yourself.”

               As they stomp away from the monster, he shouts at them,” I don’t even know what that means!”

               Their surroundings disintegrate back into the dull, dim room in Alphys’ lab. Frisk tries to sit up from where they are lying on the bed, but they can’t. They try to move their hand, but they can’t. Then, with frusteration pulsing through them, they sit up and throw their legs over the side of the bed. They stand up, hands balling into fists and jaw locked.

               “You think you can fuckin force me out with a few memories? Huh?” Chara shouts into the room.” Well it ain’t working, cowboy! You can’t kick me off my horse when I’m tied to the saddle.”

               There’s a pause of silence.

               “Alphys, I know you’re there,” Chara says, more calm. “I know you’re watching me. You _and_ Sans are watching, wondering if you should answer. Watching as your stomach twists and turns. Watching, wondering if I will escape and use my knife to carve out your heart. I will. Oh, trust me, I will. In fact, I can reset this and get out of here right now. Alphys, you won’t remember- unless you use that huge-ass-donkey brain of yours and create something to make you remember. But Sans. _You_ will remember. You’ll try to stop me, but you won’t. _Nobody can stop me._ Right now, in another timeline, I’m on the surface. Alphys is dead, Sans is trying to save poor precious Frisk… and soon… that will happen in this timeline.”

               Chara pauses.

               “Determination is one hell of a drug, huh, Frisk?”

               _You aren’t going to win._

_**That’s cute. It really is. That hope… it’ll be your downfall.**_

**** _It isn’t hope, Chara. This is determination._

 

              

               “It’s been a week, Alphys. It isn’t going to work.”

               Alphys taps her foot against the ground of the lab, the sound echoing through the lab. On screen in front of them shows Frisk sitting on the bed in the same exact spot they have been for a week. They have gotten up to eat and drink and go to the bathroom, but when they aren’t doing any of those, they are sitting on the bed and staring at the wall blankly. That doesn’t have Sans worried, though – the test not working is making him worried. Alphys sighs, and Sans watches her walk to her desk. She rummages through her messy desk, leafing through papers and books. Her eyes brighten.

               “I-I didn’t want to t-try th-this because it is ex-extremely dangerous.”

               She pulls out a folder, then walks towards Sans, holding it like it might blow up and kill her. She opens it cautiously, pulling out a paper and handing it to the skeleton. He plucks the paper from her hand and scans over it, looking over all the formula’s and recipes. On the very top in cursive writing it says _Astral Projection._

               “Astral projection. Isn’t that when someone’s soul leaves their body?” He asks, handing the paper back to Alphys.

               Alphys nods, taking the paper and sliding it back into the folder. She slams it shut. “Y-yes. That is the only other ch-choice for Frisk, unfortunately. Th-this… Sans, this is a big r-risk. “

               “I know,” Sans says solemnly.

               “And you know th-that Ch-Chara can f-force Frisk from their b-body.”

               Sans sighs.” Yeah.”

               Alphys glances back at the screen at Frisk, who’s still in the place they were before. She looks nervous.

               “I n-need to c-create a formula and p-put it into the-the vent. C-can you gr-grab a few items for-for me, Sans?”

               “Course, Alphy. Whaddya need?”

               “Sk-skull cap and Linden f-flowers, and five p-petals of an echo fl-flower. I have the other in-ingredients.”

               “On it, boss.”

 

               An hour later, Alphys is mixing the ingredients together one by one. As she pours in the ghost powder, a cloud of smoke erupts from the bowl and into the air. Alphys coughs and takes a step back, letting the smoke fade away before continuing. Meanwhile, Sans is gazing at the frozen human on the huge screen. Their eyes are dead, body relaxed and limp like a rag doll. They’re slouching, a breath away from being knocked over. The sound of sizzling snaps Sans out of his daze. Alphys is pouring in a red liquid, causing a hissing noise to fill the lab. Lastly, Alphys adds in the crushed up echo flower petals, and the recipe is done.

               “I-I will be right back, I h-have to put this in the v-vent,” Alphys says, picking up the bowl and walking away.

               Sans watches the screen. Frisk is equivalent to a dead body. A zombie. At least zombies groan and grunt – Frisk does nothing but _stare._ Staring blankly. No emotion in their eyes. Dead. Sans runs a hand down his face.

               _Hurry up and cure my human, Alphys._

It feels like hours before Frisk finally moves. Sans inhales sharply and watches intently. Frisk blinks a few times, slowly, then collapses onto the bed. Sans gapes like a fish, confused and worried. They just fucking _dropped_ like – _like a dead body._ Sans is seconds away from running into Frisks’ room when Alphys’ footsteps thud towards him.

               “What just happened?” Sans demands, not tearing his gaze away from Frisk.

               “Wh-what happened?”

               “I don’t know, you’re supposed to know!”

               “C-calm down!” Alphys says, beginning to sweat and breath more heavily.

               Sans goes to respond but stops himself when Frisk twitches. Both of the monsters freeze. Frisk twitches again, their whole body moving.

               “I’ve n-never d-done th-this be-be-before,” Alphys breathes.

               Sans watches the human as if he was looking for a Waldo in a Where’s Waldo. Minutes later, when Frisk shrieks in pain, Sans is on his toes. But he can’t do anything. He can only watch.

 

 

 

               Frisk has this strange vibration sensation running through their body. It’s like they’re a phone on vibrate while in a group chat. Then, seconds later, they feel a tugging sensation in their chest. The vibrations go on, and the tugging continues, and a voice whispers in their ear.

               “I’m not going, Frisk.”

               Blinding pain. It feels like they’re being ripped apart down the middle by bare hands. They can hear a scream, but they don’t realize it’s coming from their mouth. Pain. Blinding pain. Vibrations racking their body, pain searing from their head to their toes. Needles are piercing their insides, their brain is being pressed together by two bulldozers, and their body has been thrown into a fire, but instead of falling onto the wood of the fire, they fall onto knifes. A million sharp knives. Then, someone from each side of them are trying to get them out of the fire – a person pulling on the right side of their body, and a person on their left tugging as hard as they possibly can. It hurts. It hurts so, so bad.

               They shriek, and they scream, and they wither on the small bed that they are lying on.

               _“STOP!”_ Frisk pleads. _“PLEASE. MAKE IT STOP! SANS! AUUUGH!”_

Like God answered Frisks prayers, it all stops abruptly. Everything. There is no more pain. There is no more Chara controlling them. Everything just…. Stopped. They open their eyes. They aren’t lying down. No, they’re standing up. They look at the bed. They don’t see an empty space – they see _them self._            

               “That’s your body, Frisk.”

               Frisk whips around to see a person standing behind them. Dark hair, pale face, red eyes, rosy cheeks, and a hollow smile.

               “Chara,” Frisk whispers.

               Chara smiles,” You guessed correct! Congratulations, you won the chance of me taking over your body!”

               Frisk furrows their brow. “What?”

               Chara steps closer, “You can’t win, Frisk. I’ve already told you that. No matter how much HP, LV, or determination you have, fate will take its toll. “

               Frisk shakes their head, “No. I don’t believe that. I can defeat you, Chara. You’re just a twisted soul that happened to fit inside a body.”

               Chara walks closer so that they’re only two feet away from each other. They look down at Frisks body lying on the bed, soulless. Empty.

               “I had a good time with you, but it’s time to go our separate ways.”

               Chara places a hand on Frisks shoulder. They look at each other. Their eyes… they’re the strangest thing Frisk has ever seen. The fire in their eyes is bright, and the way they look at Frisk… it’s unsettling.

               _I can fight Chara. They won’t stop till they win, so why don’t I just fight them?_

               “I know you’re thinking about fighting me,” Chara says tauntingly. “Go ahead, have at it. Throw a punch. “

               Frisk narrows their eyes.” Why are you so set on going to the surface and killing humanity? What did they do?”

               Chara scoffs,” What did they _do?!_ Frisk, you fucking _know_ the answer to that. Want me to hold your hand and take a stroll down memory lane through your childhood? Your parents neglecting you, your friends betraying you, and that dog you loved so dear –“

               “Okay,” Frisk snaps, stomach twisting.

               “Oh, are you hurt by me acknowledging of the truth?” Chara asks innocently.

               Frisk takes a step closer to Chara. They raise an eyebrow as Frisk pokes a finger into their chest.

               “You’re not a human,” Frisk whispers. “You’re a shell of a body with nothing but darkness crawling through your bones. Your blood is poison, and your heart is a stone.”

               Chara takes a step closer to Frisk and they’re so close that Frisk can feel their breath.

               “I don’t judge your personality, or your past on the surface, Frisk,” Chara hisses. “So don’t. judge. Mine. “

               Frisk swallows. They take a step back, but continue to glare at Frisk.

               _Alphys sure has heated the mixture, now._

Chara locks their jaw, and they start towards Frisks body lying on the bed. They inhale sharply and dive towards the body lying on the bed. Frisk gets there first, jumping back into their body. When they try to sit up, they can’t. They’re frozen. Fear is a cold chill that runs through their body. They wait for the inevitable.

               Needles pierce their insides. Brain is being squished. Heat scorching their skin. Sharp knives stabbing all over. Being ripped apart. A scream tears through the silence of the room, and Frisk wishes that they were in Sans’ arms.

 

 

               Both of the monsters jump, startled, when Frisk screams again. They watch silently as Frisk writhes and twists in the bed, shrieking in pain. Sans’ hands ball into fists.

               “Alphys, it’s happening again,” He growls.

               “I-I know,” She rushes out, standing up. “I-I don’t kn-know wh-wh-why…”

               Sans glances back and forth from Frisk, screaming and twisting in pain, and Alphys, running around and going through her papers littered across her desk. Sweat builds and she starts breathing heavily as she continues to search. Finally, she comes across what she needs- a folder. She flips it open and leafs through papers, then suddenly stops. Her eyes scan across a paper. Her eyes widen. She tenses.

 

 

               “What’s going on?” Sans demands.

               “Ch-Ch-Chara is t-tr-trying to force Fr-Frisk out of th-their b-b-body!” She exclaims.

               If Sans had a heart, it would have stopped beating.

               “How the hell do we stop it?”

               “I-I didn’t- I didn’t mean for-for th-this to-to-to happen!” She cries, panting.

               Sans walks over to her and grips the lapels of her labcoat, forcing her to face him. She squeaks. Sans tries to look as calming as possible, but by the look on Alphys’ face, he might be failing _slightly_ at that.

               “Take a deep breath.”

               “S-“

               “No. Take a deep breath, Alphys.”

               It takes a moment, but Alphys takes a deep breath. Then, she takes another deep breath, and another.

               “Good. Now, how do we stop Chara from ejecting Frisk?”

               “I have to make a-a formula and-and make Frisk dr-drink it.”

               “Okay. What do we need?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this was long! Or, at least longer than the other chapters. This took a while to edit because it's fairly long. Fairly local. Anyways, hope you enjoyed :) ( Totally not going with my update schedule but oh well )


	13. Life line

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alphys wants to try one more time, and it all goes terribly wrong. - also, there are many puns. -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! It's almost midnight and I shouldn't edit at night when my brain is tired but y'know, whatever! Hope you enjoy :) ( also thank you so so so so much for the kudos, comments, and just reading it! I'm so glad that i'm not writing to an audience of ghost people! )

Sans watches the screen intently. Alphys walks into the room to the screaming and withering Frisk. She carefully and cautiously holds Frisks’ wrists and tries to pour the liquid from the vial into their mouth. Frisk squirms and gurgles and some of it pours down their face, but they swallow most of it. Alphys wipes their face with the sleeve of their labcoat, the liquid turning the white sleeve lilac, and she rushes out of the room with an empty vial in hand. By the time Alphys closes the door and stands back in front of the screen beside Sans, the human has stopped moving. They are completely still; frozen. In few minutes time, Frisk opens their eyes. They blink and squint against the light. They rub their forehead, carefully sit up, and look around the room, searching for something.

“S-Sans?” Frisk calls quietly, their voice frail.

               Sans immediately perks up. Frisk frowns and continues to search the room, rubbing their forehead.

               “Can I go in?” Sans asks Alphys.

               “Um…” Alphys starts, but upon seeing Sans face, she says,”Y-yes. Go ahead.”

               Sans, instead of walking, transports to the door. He doesn’t mind waiting around to see Alphys’ look of surprise. He opens the creaky door, steps in and closes the door behind him. When he looks at Frisk, they’re looking back at him.

               “Sans,” Frisk breathes.

               “You called, I came,” Sans replies with a smile, walking closer.

               Frisk tries to smile, but it’s weak. Sans plops down besides Frisk on the bed and ruffles their hair.

               “I couldn’t-  it didn’t work,” Frisk murmurs, looking at Sans with wide eyes.

               “I know.”

               Frisk sighs and looks down like they’re guilty. The skeleton rubs his cold hand on Frisks’ upper back.

               “Babe, it’s okay. There are more ways. “

               “I just want it to be over with.”

               Sans wraps his arm around Frisks’ waist and pulls them closer. Frisk doesn’t hesitate to lay their head on Sans’ shoulder. He can feel the human relaxing more and more as time ticks by. After a few minutes, Alphys asks Sans to come back out through the crackling speaker. So Sans leaves the wide-eyed Frisk who pleads for him to stay. When he walks back out to Alphys, she is already rushing out words.

               “Right n-now, Ch-Chara has control over h-half of Frisks body, so we can’t let Fr-Frisk out just yet. You c-can’t go in there either b-because Chara might t-take control and h-hurt you. Imagine it’s w-water – the w-water has boiled, so n-now we have to let it c-cool.”

               “So we just have to wade it out.”

               Alphys snorts. “Y-Yes, Sans. I-I have to go, I hope you d-don’t mind…”

               Sans shrugs,” Nah, it’s fine. I don’t want to face Undynes wrath if I keep you here.”

               Dark red covers Alphys’ face, and she laughs weakly. “I-I’m n-not seeing Un-Un-Undyne!”

               “Water you docking a-boat? It’s pretty clear you like her,” Sans winks.

               Alphys blushes darker and splutters. She quickly turns around and starts walking towards the exit of the lab.

               “I hope you guys _seal_ the deal soon!” Sans shouts before Alphys leaves the lab.

               Once the doors to the lab shut and all is silent, Sans sighs. He looks at the large screen displaying Frisk. They’re sitting on the bed running a hand down their face, hunched over. They don’t look too great.

               “You look tide-ered, Frisk,” Sans comments. “Whale, I’m shore coffee would brighten your spirits… Nice, Sans, you don’t look crazy at all talking to your… _shell-_ f. “

               Sans stays there for another hour making sure nothing happens to Frisk. He only leaves when Alphys gets back and tells him that he should go back home so Papyrus doesn’t get worried. So he leaves and goes back to Snowdin to his house, and he slumps on the couch and absent-mindedly eats spaghetti that tastes like charcoal and citrus. When Papyrus asks where Frisk is, he says that they’re at the Inn; he doesn’t want to tell his brother what’s going on. It takes an entire week for Alphys to say that Frisk is safe. Not _100%_ safe – more like _80%_ safe. Then, Alphys let yet _another_ bomb drop.

               “I-I think we should test out one m-more ex-experiment,” Alphys confesses, standing nervously on the other side of the desk.

               Sans looks at her blankly. “Alphys, Frisk nearly fucking _died._ “

               “I-I know b-but Ch-Chara has less con-con-control now! It might actually w-work, Sans.”

               Sans sighs, and he looks at Frisk displayed on the screen. They’re messing with the wilted flower on the bedside table. Fuck, they look _miserable._ He can imagine walking home with a mopey Frisk who doesn’t even talk, just stares, determination steadily decreasing. It isn’t like Sans can help fill Frisk with determination again – he doesn’t have determination. No monster has determination. If they do, they explode and combust and die. He only has hope and trust, but that isn’t enough to help Frisk. He looks back at Alphys, at her pleading face, and feels himself beginning to cave in.

               “Pl-please, Sans, i-I can do th-this.”

               “Alright. First, tell me what you’re going to do.”

               Alphys explains to Sans what is going to happen. First, she’s going to make the formula again for Frisk to go under Astral Projection immediately. Except this time, since Frisk is more in control, Frisk can force Chara out and break their ‘silver cord’. The silver cord is what ties the soul to the body, or the source. Once that cord is broken, that soul is left wandering the Astral plane for the rest of eternity. If Frisk forces Chara out and cuts their cord, then everything will be over. The first time Frisk did astral projection, Alphys thought that Chara would just be in the astral plane, and Frisk could jump back into their body and Chara would be left in that plane, but that’s not how it works. Chara is attached to Frisks’ soul somehow. The only way is to cut Chara’s silver cord.

               Throughout the entire explanation of this, Sans’ mind is pelted with thoughts. Some of confusion, but most of worry.

               “So all Frisk has to do is cut Chara’s cord?”

               “W-well, firstly, both of them h-have to be out of F-Frisks’ body. Then, Frisk has to find Chara’s cord. “

               “Find it? A scavenger hunt for the silver cord?”

               “N-not exactly… m-more like feeling around f-for it. “

               “… so it’s invisible.”

               Alphys nods. Sans sighs, rubbing his forehead.

               “What if something goes wrong again? Frisk might die.”

               “Frisk w-won’t die. I promise. I p-promise I’ll keep your p-precious human safe.”

               Sans looks at her, confused. She smiles, her eyes sparkling, and she pats Sans on the shoulder.

               “It’s pretty clear you like them,” She says.

               Sans sputters, his face beginning to glow blue. “What? Alphys, I-I –“

               But Alphys isn’t listening. She’s already walking away, beginning to clear off her desk to make the formula once again. Sans watches her retrieve the items, setting them out on the desk. When she realizes the skeleton is just standing there, she looks at him expectantly.

               “Are you going to h-help?” She asks.

               Sans rushes forward and helps Alphys grab the ingredients. Soon, the mixture is done and Alphys is ready to put it into the vent. She hesitates, bowl in her hands.

               “C-Can you tell Frisk about the-the plan?” Alphys asks. “If y-you don’t want to r-risk it, I can tell them th-through the speaker.”

               Sans waves a hand,” Nah, it’s fine, I’ll do it.”

               Before Alphys can utter another word, Sans is walking through the doorway and shutting the door behind him. Frisk is sitting on the floor twirling the dead, wilted flower. They look exhausted. Dark circles beneath their eyes, a birds nest in place of their neat hair, pale face. When Sans walks closer and the floor creaks, Frisks’ head snaps up. Their eyes bulge. The dead flower drops onto the floor, and they are flying to their feet. Sans hesitantly walks closer.

               “Hey, bucko,” Sans says, smiling.

               Frisk stands there, looking like they want to run into Sans’ arm and hide under the blankets at the same time. So the skeleton stands there, waiting for the human to make the first move so they don’t scare the poor human.

               “Is- is that really you?” Frisk whispers, voice hoarse.

               Sans nods, taking a slow step forward. They take a quick step back. Sans stops.

               “Yeah, it’s me, babe,” Sans says in the most soothing voice he can manage. “Listen, Frisk. We’re going to try astral projection again, just one more time. Is that okay with you?”

               Frisk nods vehemently.

               “Alright. Good. But, when both you and Chara are out of your body and in the astral plane, we need you to find their silver cord. “

               Frisk arches an eyebrow. Sans chuckles. “I know, sounds weird, right? It leads from Chara to your body when you are in the astral plane. You just have to cut it, but the trick is that it’s invisible.”

               Frisk pauses. “I have to find an invisible silver cord that is connected to Chara in the astral plane and cut it. With what, invisible scissors?”

               “N-no, Frisk,” Alphys’ voice crackles through,” all you have to do is imagine a pair of scissors. Then you can cut it. “

               Frisk nods. A look of pain flashes across their face, but it’s gone so fast that Sans thinks he might have imagined it. He smiles at Frisk, and he turns around and walks towards the door.

               “Sans?”

               He turns around. Frisk looks uncertain.

               “If I –“

               “You won’t.”

              

 

 

              

               Frisk has been going crazy. If they spend one more day in this room with Chara whispering dreadful things all day and all night, they are going to reset, even if Sans yells at them for it. It isn’t like before, either. This time, Chara’s inner demon has awaken. They tell Frisk about how it feels to die. They tell Frisk how in other timelines, in other universes, they are ruling on the surface and all these monsters in the underground are dead. They tell Frisk about the steps to a murder. They tell Frisk about Sans. About how dead he is inside, how depressed he is. Sometimes, a hallucination of Sans comes in and confesses their love, or holds them, or yells at them, or tells them they can leave now. Frisk does their best to ignore it, but it’s hard. Sometimes, Chara is silent for a long time, and Frisk thinks they finally, _finally_ , gave up, but seconds later they’re back with more haunting words that make Frisk want to crawl out of their skin. They can’t sleep. They can barely eat or drink. They want to feel the cold of Snowdin again, feel Sans’ presence, smell Papyrus’ burning spaghetti. They don’t want to be in this tiny room with Chara anymore.

               When Sans comes in, something in Frisks’ gut tells them that this isn’t a hallucination. They listen to Sans, and they cherish his presence, and when he leaves, Frisk feels like the world is ending. The world has crashed into the sun and everything is going to collapse and die.

               They sit on the bed, and Chara is unusually silent. They wait for Chara, and they wait to be put to sleep to wake up in an astral plane once again. Soon enough, they’re collapsing onto the bed in a deep sleep. Minutes that are actually hours later, Frisk is waking up in the astral plane. As soon as their feet touch the floor and they stand, they see Chara in front of them. Chara stands there like they are royalty and Frisk is about to bow down. Then, Chara smiles, and it’s genuine.

               “Surprised you have endured me this long,” They say, a taunting tone tinting their words.

               Frisk shrugs. They’re too tired to do anything else. They wonder where Chara’s silver cord would be. Chara grins at them.

               “Not surprised that you aren’t doing so well.”

               Again, Frisk shrugs. They think of outlets and plugs and cords. Outlets. Mouth? Head? Brain?

               “Maybe I should braid your hair before you take control of me, Chara.”

               Before Chara can utter a word or make a face, Frisk is walking behind Chara and touching their hair. They smooth their palm against Chara’s hair, trying to find the cord. They can’t. They start to play with Chara’s hair absentmindedly, thinking of other places it could be. Then, all of a sudden, Frisks’ vision goes dark. They can’t see a thing. They can still feel the texture of Chara’s hair, but they can’t see their hair. It’s dark.

               “Ch-Chara?” Frisk murmurs, fear crawling under their skin.

               A voice answers back, but it isn’t Chara’s.

               “ _Frisk! FRISK! CHARA’S TRYING TO BREAK YOUR FUCKIN CORD! JESUS, ALPHYS, WHAT –“_

The voice fades away, and they can no longer hear anything. They can’t even feel the texture of Chara’s hair anymore. It’s dark, and fear is a spider that crawls under their skin and settles in their bones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAHHHHH! ALSO SORRY IT'S A CLIFFHANGER AND THE NEXT CHAPTER PROBS WON'T BE OUT FOR ANOTHER FEW DAYS OR SO!


	14. Awaken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk and Sans head back home once everything is over with at the lab. Frisk sleeps a lot, then Sans opens his heart a little. Also, Papyrus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is in Sans' point of view. Like, third-person that focuses on Sans.

“JESUS ALPHYS WHAT-“

               “Sans, calm down.”

               Sans is about to say something else, but he stops, deciding it won’t do any good. Alphys rushes forward, past Sans, and pours a bucket of black, gooey liquid onto the human. Frisk jolts up into a sitting position, panting with eyes bulging. The two monsters wait as Frisk regains their breath. They look down at themself, at the black goo covering them and sliding over their skin. Frisk looks at Sans with wide eyes. In any other situation, Sans would have laughed at the human with black slime all over their upper half except their eyes, but Frisk has confusion and fright in their eyes and he needs to make sure they are okay.

               “Let’s not do any more experiments,” Frisk says shakily.

               Alphys looks down.” I-I’m sorry, Frisk, I-I shouldn’t have even tried astral p-p-projection at-at _all_.”

               “You should get cleaned off,” Sans cuts off. Frisk nods and wipes at the goo on their face.

               Sans holds a hand out for Frisk, and they take it and hop off the bed. The two walk to the bathroom, leaving Alphys there, wondering if the skeleton is going to come back out to yell at her. The door to the bathroom shuts, and the bright light flickers on. Sans walks over the white tiled floor to the shower, turning the knob to a warm temperature. They turn around and walk back over to Frisk, who stands right by the door. They’re staring at the ground. Sans ruffles Frisks’ hair, and Frisks eyes snap to him.

               “I’ll be waiting in the lab, alright? I’ll go to Snowdin and grab some extra clothes for you to wear, okay?”

               “Okay. I’ll be quick.”

               So Sans walks out and takes a short cut to Snowdin, searching his closet for the comfiest sweatpants and t-shirt he has. He’s back in the lab within 2 minutes and sets the clothes right outside the bathroom door. When he walks back into the lab, the screen is turned off, and Alphys is sitting at the chair at her desk. Sans walks over to her.

               “So. I didn’t know that Chara could break silver cords, too.”

               “If I t-t-told you, you w-w-wouldn’t have l-let me try to h-help Fr-Frisk again… I sh-shouldn’t have anyhow…”

               Sans sighs. Alphys just wanted to help. Even though she nearly killed Frisk ( again ) and didn’t tell him the entire full effects of doing this and what may or may not happen… she tried; although she hurt Frisk in the process. 

               “At least you rept-ried.”

               Alphys spins around in her chair and looks at Sans.

“Turtle be told, doing your best is always good. Even if you hurt my human in the process and broke their spirit…”

She frowns. “I th-think you shouldn’t look towards m-me for help anymore. I, uh…I’m n-not good at fixing pr-pr-problems… “

               Sans claps a hand on Alphys’ shoulder. “You didn’t let Frisk croak, so that’s something.”

               The door creaks open, and Frisk walks out wearing baggy sweatpants and a loose, ratty t-shirt with a pun about science on the front. They smile weakly as they walk over.

               “Thank you for trying to help, Alphys; you’re brave,” Frisk tells Alphys.

               Alphys blushes,”Th-thank you, Frisk. H-hopefully I’ll see you b-both around for an-another anime m-marathon, or something that doesn’t involve science and life-or-death s-situations.”

               Frisk chuckles,” Yeah, I hope so. “

               “I hope you feel better.”

               “I do, too. “

               They walk out of the lab and out into the hot air of Hotland, and Frisk is grateful to be alive.

 

               When they get out of Hotland and reach Waterfall, Frisk finally talks. Sans didn’t want to start the conversation, wanting to give the human some space. A minute or two after the hot air shifted into humid air and the sound of running water filled their ears, Frisk speaks.

“At the very beginning, within the first few hours of being in that room, I saw some of Chara’s memories. I saw the ones that made them feel a lot of emotions. Anger, probably, since that was the goal at that time – make Chara mad. All of them had Asriel except for one. One of them had you in it. It was in your workshop.”

               “In my workshop, huh? What, were we having sex or something?”

               Frisk doesn’t laugh. “They were snooping through your stuff, and you walked in, and you burnt their shoe and hurt their foot. Chara said your father injected you with ‘go-go juice’. Sans… what did they mean by that?”

               Sans pauses. He knows exactly what Frisk is talking about. That memory floats into his mind, and dread runs through him. He never _ever_ let his powers get the best of him except for that one moment. That one moments with Chara when he was unbelievably pissed off at that damn human. He remembers the anger coursing through him, the power that surged within him that was extremely dull compared to his power now. Then, he could destroy only one house and pass out. Now, he can destroy an entire state with one go. Things are different. _He’s_ different. And this, all of this, has happened because of a single scientist. Gaster.

               “They mean that I was a lab rat,” Sans says, using Chara’s words. “I was my father’s lab rat, if you could call him that. He created me with science using his DNA, so you could say he’s my dad.”

               Frisk is silent, and Sans is silent, and their footsteps are heavy on the ground.      

               “Chara is speaking again,” Frisk says once they get to Snowdin.

               “Are you-“

               “No hallucinations. Not yet, at least. Did you tell Papyrus what happened?”

               “Nah, seemed too tough to tell him. Just told him you were at the Inn most of the time.”

               Frisk nods. They trudge through the snow, the wind pushing against them. The cold never bothered Sans, so he never thought twice of how Frisk might feel. They glance at the human, seeing them running their hands up and down their arms. Sans frowns. It must have to do with their skin, right? Their skin is like some thermometer. It must suck having skin. He contemplates taking off his jacket and giving it to Frisk. On the upside, it’ll score some brownie points for him. On the downside, he is always cold, so his jacket is cold, and chances are, if Frisk wears his jacket, they will be even _more_ cold. Before Sans can pick which choice to make, they’re arriving at the door of the house and it’s too late.

               The first thing they hear when they step inside is Papyrus.

               “FRISK! I’M SO GLAD TO SEE YOU!”

               He rushes forward in his Mettaton apron and envelopes Frisk in a bone-crushing hug. Frisk smiles- which actually might be a grimace – and hugs back, but not as tight. Sans chuckles and closes the door. Papyrus swings the human around in his arm, and Frisk grunts.

               “Alright, Paps, don’t break the kid.”

               “OH! I AM SORRY, HUMAN, I DON’T WANT TO BREAK YOU!”

               He immediately places Frisk back down on their feet. Frisk gives Papyrus a wide smile.

               “It’s fine, Papyrus! I’m happy to see you as well.”

               “SANS SAID THAT YOU TWO HAD A FIGHT, BUT IT MUST BE OKAY NOW! RIGHT!?!?!?!?”

               Frisk glances at Sans. He shrugs.

               “Yeah,” Frisk says, looking back at Papyrus,” we just had a small fight, but we’re all friends again.”

Papyrus smiles like Frisk saved his life. “NYEHEHEH! B-F-F’S ONCE AGAIN! I HAVE TO CONTINUE TO COOK MY SPAGHETTI, BUT I AM VERY HAPPY TO SEE YOU AGAIN!”

“I’m happy to see you, too,” Frisk replies.

Papyrus dashes back into the kitchen to finish the spaghetti, leaving Sans and Frisk alone. Sans sits down on the couch, so Frisk walks over and sits beside him as he turns on the tv. Within minutes, Frisk is falling onto Sans’ lap, asleep. The skeleton smiles and runs their hand through their damp hair. After a few minutes, they stand up with Frisk in their arms and carries them to his room. They tuck them into bed, staying in the room for a little longer to make sure they don’t wake up. Then, he leaves and shuts the door. Once he returns back downstairs, Papyrus asks him where Frisk went.

“They didn’t get much sleep at the Inn, so I put them to bed.”

“Oh… poor human! I will save some spaghetti for them tomorrow!”

Sans smiles. “Bro, that’s nice and all, but we have plenty of left overs.”

               Papyrus shrugs and smiles, and the two brothers eat while Frisk sleeps.

 

 

               The next day, Sans lets Frisk sleep in. They go to work for only 5 minutes before they go back home to check on Frisk. The skeleton decides to just stay at the house and wait until Frisk wakes up. It turns out that Sans stayed there for nothing because by the time Paps got home, the human was still asleep. They wake up about 20 minutes after Papyrus gets home. They walk down the stairs, stretching their arms above their head. They pause when they see the two skeletons on the floor playing Monopoly.

               “FRISK!” Papyrus exclaims, jumping up.

               Frisk smiles and walks over. “Hey, guys.”

               “ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FRESH SPAGHETTI!?!?!??!”

               Papyrus dashes into the kitchen. Frisk laughs, and Sans smiles. Frisk sits down beside Sans and helps him put the board game away. It’s quiet between them, and the only sound is the clanking of pots in the kitchen.

               “You aren’t the reason why humans hate monsters,” They say once the board game is all put away and closed.

“Frisk, you don’t have to –“

“I do, because it isn’t true, and I know a part deep down inside of you thinks that is true. I know what it’s like. Back on the surface, other kids didn’t like me. I had plenty of abuse from others. For a long while I believed what they said, even now I still have a small part of me that believes them. Chara is literally the reason why humans hate monsters- not you.”

Sans looks at the human. A deep affection fills him, something that hasn’t happened in… forever. All of the other humans were never like this. Frisk is something special, something that everyone needs in their life. Frisk is like cuddling up in bed after a long day, or drinking hot chocolate by the fire and watching movies, or laughing so hard you can’t breathe. You don’t need Frisk, but life is _so_ much better with them in it. If Frisk ever left, there would be a hole in Sans’ life that he doesn’t want to think about. Here, right now, Frisk is here with him. And they’re trying to comfort him when _they’re_ the one who should be receiving comfort.

Before Sans could think twice, he’s leaning forward and his mouth comes in contact with Frisks’ lips. It’s barely even a second and he’s pulling back, his face blue. He looks away, but Frisk is touching his jaw and he looks at the human again. They have a small, fond grin on their face.

“Did you just kiss me?” They ask.

Sans nods. Frisk smiles, and it’s as bright as the sun. They open their mouth to say something, but Papyrus’ voice barrels into the room, startling Frisk into dropping their hand from Sans’ face.

“SANS, FRISK, DINNER IS READY!” He calls.

They share a shy glance with each other before standing up and walking into the kitchen. Papyrus stands at the stove with his light pink apron spooning spaghetti onto a plate. He hands it to Frisk with a smile, then grabs another plate for Sans.

“Actually, Sans and I were planning on going on a, uh, a date.”

Sans looks at Frisk in surprise. They look at Sans shyly, shrugging. Papyrus gasps and looks back and forth at Frisk and Sans.

“A _DATE?!”_

“Or just hanging out,” Frisk rushes, still looking at Sans, their face tinted red.

Sans, getting over his initial surprise, slowly nods. “Yeah. A date sounds cool. “

Frisk nods, and Sans smiles, and Papyrus has set down the plate and has his hands on his face.

“A _DATE_?!?!?!” He says once again.

“Paps, we’re gonna go but I’ll seeya in a few hours-“

“ _A DATE!?!?!”_

“Welp, see ya!”

“Bye, Papyrus!”

Sans and Frisk walk away quickly, escaping the burnt-smelling house. Papyrus stands there in the kitchen, mouth gaping and spoon in his hand.

               “ _DATE?!?!?!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *screams into the void*


	15. Crumble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans and Frisk go on a date, and things are discovered. Also, Undyne thinks they fucked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost didn't update because I was hanging out with a friend for a while after school BUT HERE IT IS AND HERE I AM AND I DID IT

“So, did ya just want to escape Papyrus’ spag-helli, or did you actually want to go on a date with me?”

               The two are walking through Snowdin. The cold crawls over their skin, and the snow climbs inside of their boots. It’s mostly empty out, only the monster-kid playing outside in the snow by himself. He’s lying on the ground, waving his arms and legs about, making a snow-angel. They remember they used to run outside and play around in the snow with nothing but jeans and a t-shirt on because their parents didn’t care about them. They were young, and they didn’t know about the horror in the world. Frisk glances at Sans, and he glances at them, and that’s when they see the doubt surfacing on the skeletons face.

               “A little bit of the first one, but mostly the latter,” Frisk says.

               “Alright. Well, we can go –“

               “No.”

               Sans looks at Frisk, confused.

               “I’m the one who asked you, since you’re so spineless, so I get to pick.”

               Sans chuckles, and Frisk smiles at him.

               “You know why skeletons are so calm?”

               “Why?”

               “Because nothing gets under our skin.”

               Frisk sighs heavily, but can’t help smiling. Sans smiles, and they continue walking through Snowdin. Once they get to Waterfall and the air grows humid and the cold melts away, Frisk thinks of another pun and smirks.

               “What’s a skeletons favorite instrument?”

               “A trom-bone,” Sans says flatly.” I’m disappointed in you – that was so bad that I’m skulking.”

               Frisk huffs and forces themself to keep a blank face, refusing to look at the skeleton. Sans groans and ruffles the humans hair.

               “C’mon, Frisk, my joke was _humerus_. It doesn’t take Sherlock _Bones_ to see how good it was. It’s going _tibia_ okay – the pun police won’t arrest you. “

               Frisk ends up in a fit of laughter, but Sans keeps going.

               “Did you get into an elevator, because your spirits are suddenly lifted. “

               “Sans, you truly are the master of puns,” Frisk says, laughing.

               Sans shrugs,” Nah, I’m tying with the 2nd master of puns. “

               “And who is that? Me?”

               “Definitely not _you._ Jesus, you thought that trome-bone pun was good enough to say aloud?”

               “Fuck you, Sans,” Frisk says, but smiles.

               Sans laughs, and Frisk laughs, and all is well. They walk through the humid air, and Chara’s voice creeps through Frisks’ head.

               **_Frisk, buddy, I’m trying to warn you, but it’s not working._**

**** _Warn me from what?_

_**From Sans, you asshat! This is going to end in heartbreak and blood and you fucking know it. Whether it’s because I kill Sans permanently, I take over you fully, or you guys somehow make it on the surface all happy with me gone… he’s going to get tired of you – everyone does.**_

**** _You don’t._

_**Because I’m stuck with you. You think that I**_ ** want _to stay with a stupid, merciful fairy who wants to fuck Sans?_ **

**** _I don’t want to fuck Sans._

_**You keep telling yourself that.**_

Something cold on their hand. It takes a moment before Frisk realizes Sans has intertwined their fingers. Frisk doesn’t understand how touch can make a person feel so… relaxed. Comfortable. They look at Sans, but he isn’t looking back at them; he’s looking out in front of them. Frisk looks away, but they squeeze Sans’ hand to make sure he knows. He squeezes back.

               The whole way there, Sans doesn’t question where they are going. He probably already knows where Frisk is leading him to, but just because they don’t have the element of surprise doesn’t mean it won’t be a good date. Frisk is determined as _fuck_ to make it a fantastic first date. This is the date that will remember for centuries. They will look back in their scrapbook that they will decide to make after their 6 th date when they know they’re meant to be, and they will be struck with awe. It will be _awe_ some.

               Once they arrive, they walk in through the back and grab a table since they didn’t make a reservation. It’s crowded, and someone is making jokes on stage, and it smells like food. They sit down at a table near the back, the only table open. Not even five minutes later, a sweaty waiter crawls up and asks what the two would like.

               “Nachos, but instead of cheese, put ketchup on it,” Sans says, and the waiter hurriedly scribbles it down.

               “A Glamburger with a side of fries.”

               “Mmmkay, that’ll be riiiiight out for ya,” He says and crawls away.

               **_A Glamburger. Seriously. You’re in this super fancy restaurant and you get a goddamn burger?_**

**** _Sans got nachos._

_**Because he’s**_ ** Sans _._ **

               Frisk ignores Chara. Earlier, they wished for Chara back, to get rid of the deafening silence in their head. Now, all Frisk wants is for Chara to disappear again. You only need the light when it’s burning low, right? They let out a sigh. Sans gazes at them. The sound of a voice on a microphone and low laughter is heard, and the smell of cooking swirls around them.

               “I know you probably don’t want a monster like me,” Sans says, smiling.” I mean, I can’t even kiss right… but if-if you want to, that would be cool.”

               “What do you mean a monster like you?”

               “C’mon, Frisk, don’t make me list everything.”

               “Just because you’re a skeleton doesn’t mean I wouldn’t want you. Fuck, Sans, that’s ridiculous. I want someone because of who they are, not _what_ they are. If you can’t kiss like a human, that’s okay, because you _aren’t_ a human. “

               Sans is quiet. Frisk reaches across the table and takes hold of the skeletons hand. It’s cold. Sans looks up. Frisk smiles gently.

               “Will you tell me another joke?”

               Time passes by, and their food arrives inbetween jokes when Frisk is snorting and laughing so hard they can’t breathe, and Sans is laughing from Frisk laughing. The waiter awkwardly sets their food down and quickly scurries away. Sans eats his nachos and Frisk picks up their burger, taking a bite.

               **_Ah man, I can’t wait to kill Sans again. This time, his heart is going to shatter into pieces._**

Frisk grits their teeth. They try to push Chara away.

               **_I continue to wonder how long it will take for you to break. For your determination to give out. It will happen eventually; it always does._**

Another bite. Tension.

               **_Awh don’t ignore me! Doesn’t matter, anyways. I can sense your emotions. The fear crawling within you. Fear is just as strong as hope. Except, you don’t have hope, am I right? Just determination to get rid of me._**

They set their burger down. Too loud. It’s too loud. Everyone is staring. They’re trapped. It feels like a boulder on their chest. It’s foggy. Too many people. Too much noise. Too much _life_. They stand like a robot and walk to the exit like a drunk. They rush towards the door, heart pounding and breathing heavy. As soon as they reach the cool, fresh night air, they take a deep breath. They stand there, breathing, eyes closed. It’s quiet, and they’re alone, and they have room to live.

               **_Panic attack on a first date. What a goddamn charmer._**

The door opens once again, but Frisk doesn’t bother turning around. The footsteps on the ground move towards Frisk. Sans is in front of them, and he looks worried.

               “You okay?” He asks, eyeing them.

               “I never am. Seriously, when am I okay?”             

               Frisk laughs weakly, and it’s sad and humorless. They refuse to look at the skeleton in front of them; instead, they look at the ground. They can feel tears burning in their eyes. Frisk wishes they weren’t so emotional.

               “Let’s head back to the house.”

               “No,” Frisk snaps. “No, I just needed a breather. I needed space. I can do this.”

               Frisk looks at Sans. He looks unsure, but he sighs and he nods. He steps closer, seeming to want to do something, but hesitates. He steps back and looks away.

               “I’ll wait inside,” He says, and he walks back inside.

               The door shuts, and Frisk lets the tears stream down their face.

               _I’m just a human. I’m not made for this. I was never made to save anyone._

_**Cheer up, Frisky. Even when this all ends up in flames, you have saved one person. Me.**_

**** _That doesn’t make me feel better._

_**I know.**_

The cold air pushes against Frisk and dries their tears quickly. They breathe deeply, trying to focus on anything but the present so they don’t start to cry again. Once a few minutes pass and they’re sure that they won’t burst into tears again, they turn around and walk inside. The loud chatter and music smash into them, and the smell of food replaces the fresh night air. They weave through tables to return to Sans, who’s half-way done with his ketchup nachos. Frisk chuckles as they sit down.

               “You’re crazy ‘bout ketchup. “

               Sans shrugs. Frisk eats, and Sans eats, and it feels like they’re lightyears away from each other. As Frisk eats, they think about what happened earlier, back at the house and the kiss. They’ve been kissed quite a few times during their lifetime, but this kiss was the one that will have a throne in their house of memories. It didn’t even identify as a kiss technically, but it’s Sans, and they like Sans. Back on the surface, Frisk believed that they would be alone for the rest of their life. It’s not that they were insecure – they just didn’t like anyone. There were a few relationships here and there, but they didn’t last and it didn’t make Frisks heart explode with compassion and affection. Now, they know why they felt like that. Sans was waiting here the entire time. They can hold hands and walk through the underground together. They can cuddle and watch movies. Sans or Frisk can cry and neither of them would be judgmental about it because they’re best friends, _more_ than best friends. They can do everything Frisk can’t do with anyone else.

               **_Don’t forget to include me in your fantasy, Frisk. How could you forget about the dazzling Chara Dreemurr?_**

It’s like Frisks’ world crumbles. They can’t be together- at least, not yet. They have to focus on Chara to save the underground, the surface, everyone. How selfish could Frisk be? If a romantic relationship forms between them, problems could erupt _easily_. They can’t be distracted by those things, either. They… they have to focus on getting rid of Chara before they take over. Before they destroy everything.

               “You wanna try a ketchup nacho?”

               “We can’t be in a relationship.”

               The words force their way out of their mouth before they can catch them. Sans looks at them, surprise and hurt etched into his features. Frisks’ heart pounds.

               “I like you _a lot_ , but with everything on the line here… I’m so incredibly drained just from dealing with Chara. I can’t put a relationship on top of that.”

               “Frisk,” Sans starts, his tone low and serious,” it’s just a relationship. I won’t make you hug me five times a day.”

               “I know, Sans, but I…” Frisk sighs. “It’d be better this way. It’s easier to wait until everything is over. Once we’re on the surface and this is all sorted out, we’ll talk about having a relationship. For now, we have to deal with Chara.”

**_I don’t even have to do anything – you’re hurting your friends all on your own!_ **

Sans looks like he’s about to object, but he doesn’t. “Okay. I understand. “

               “Thanks for understanding. I really do like you, Sans.”

               The skeleton nods, and he calls the waiter over. He pays the bill with a few gold coins, and then he stands up and pushes in his chair. Without a word, he walks out of the back door. Frisk sits there, alone at the table. The loud chatter seems to grow louder, but the brightness dies out. Frisk wonders if Sans is hurt because he thinks they don’t like him, or if he has no hope in a future on the surface.

              

              

               Sans walks through Snowdin, his head in the clouds. He doesn’t know why he’s so upset about Frisk not wanting to be in a relationship at the moment. It’s reasonable and logical and it’s the right thing to do, but what if the future they’re hoping for doesn’t happen? Chara could possibly gain full control, and the surface could turn into a war zone.

               “I’m such a selfish skeleton,” Sans mumbles to himself as he walks up to the house.

               As soon as he steps inside, a familiar voice is yelling at him.

               “WIMP! I HEARD YOU HAD A THING WITH THE HUMAN!”

               _Oh fuck no._

               Undyne comes stomping out of the kitchen. Her eyes are blazing with interest as she rushes towards the skeleton, bombarding with him with questions as he walks to the couch.

               “Are you in love with the human? Dude, I didn’t know you had a thing for them! When did it happen? Alphys didn’t even tell me?”

               “Because she likes to rept-lie. “

               “NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR YOUR PUNS, SANS!” Papyrus huffs, walking in from the kitchen. His pink mettaton apron is charred, only Mettaton’s face unscathed.

               “Holy shrimp, guys, scale it back and tell me why Undyne is freaking out over Frisk and I?”

               “papyrus said you two losers went on a _date_. That’s like third base!”

               “Uh, no, a date comes before first base.”-

               “WHY ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT BASES? WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH RELATIONSHIPS?”

               “Nothing, Paps. We just went on a date. We aren’t in a relationship.”

               Undyne scoffs,” Yeah right! I bet you two already frick fracked!”

               Sans glares.” We aren’t talking about this in front of my brother.”

               Undyne winces and glances at Papyrus. Papyrus looks confused.

               “Anyhow, we aren’t in a relationship, so stop stickin’ your gills in places they don’t belong.”

               “I’ll just ask Frisk about it since you’re being an ass. Later, losers!”

               “Language!”

               “Sorry, Sans!”

               The door shuts. Papyrus looks at Sans.

               “What’s an ass?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I gave you guys cake then as you took a bite I revealed I put poison in it. Like, in a metaphorical sense, that's what happened, and of course I had to make it a metaphor because I'm a writer lmao what did you expect also I am vERY SORRY
> 
> also: I actually did break up with someone and it happened somewhat like this. Also, I have had plenty of panic attacks before lmao so this chapter is pretty personal to me BUT ANYWAYS HOPE YOU ENJOYED


	16. We're All Human

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk goes on a walk and eats nice cream. Something happens, Chara gets pissed off and confused, and Napstablook is chill af.

               Frisk doesn’t stay at the restaurant for long after Sans leaves. They sit there and finish the last of the food, then they get up and walk out the back door. Once the door shuts and the fresh air welcomes them like an old friend, Frisk walks. They don’t know where the fuck they’re going or when they’re going back to the house, but they walk anyhow. The silence settles, and the night air wraps around the human like a hug. They walk through Mettatons hotel, not minding to talk to anyone. They feel empty inside, like there’s a void in their stomach that’s sucking all of their emotions out. They feel lost and empty.

               They leave the hotel, and they walk to the nice cream stand. They order a nice cream, and they eat it as they walk through the rest of Hotland. As they lick their nice cream and walk along, they notice a few shrubs on the ground that they’ve never seen before. They stop, and they examine the shrubs that seemed to magically appear.

**_What, Frisk, you haven’t seen a shrub before?_ **

              Frisk ignores Chara and ignores the shrub. They keep walking and eat the cone. Only a few steps later, there’s trees appearing. They stop, freezing in place. They look all around them. The human isn’t in Hotland, though – they’re on a hill on the surface. The sun is setting, casting pink and purple rays across the sky. The grass is yellow and brown beneath their feet. They look down, and it’s like they’re on top of a skyscraper. They can see the entire city from here. The lights beginning to turn on, all of the buildings crowded together, the cars as fast as light on the streets. They look behind them to see a large, circular crater, except it can’t be a crater because it has no bottom in sight. Frisk looks over the edge, and it seems to go on forever.

               “I can do this.” 

               The words slip out of Frisks’ mouth. They seem to have no control of their mouth, their body even. They take a deep breath on auto-pilot, and they rub their hands on their jeans.

               “I can’t deal with humanity. This is how I escape them.”

               Frisk looks down at the endless abyss. They take a step forward. Another step forward. They look down at the darkness below them. Frisk, with no control of their body, takes another step forward and falls into the darkness.

               Frisk inhales sharply. They aren’t on the surface anymore. No darkness, no sky, no dead grass – just them standing in Hotland with a half-eaten cone in their hand. Their hands are shaking.

**_What the fuck!?_ **

              The echo of Chara’s confusion and anger racks Frisks’ body.

              “I-I don’t know,” Frisk whispers. “Was that you, Chara?”

**_This must be because of Alphys. Fuck, that stupid reptile must have jacked everything up!_**

              Chara takes control of Frisks’ body and starts marching through Hotland. Frisk tries to gain control again, but Chara keeps pushing Frisk back.

_Chara, stop. It isn’t her f-_

              “It _is_ her fault, so shut the fuck up, Frisk.”

_You’re just upset that I saw you at your low point. That was when you tried to-_

              “Yeah, I tried to kill myself. So? Humanity sucks. They should all burn. They should have Hitler as ruler again so everyone dies. Humanity is a terrible species, and I don’t understand how you can’t realize that.”

              Chara stops walking. They have their hands balled at their sides, the nice cream cone crushed and nice cream getting on their hands. Frisk feels Chara slowly give back control to Frisk, going back into their mind. Frisk unballs their fists, and they take a breath.

              “Not all humanity is bad. Look how I came out, Chara. Would you call me a bad person?”

              Chara is quiet. A few moments pass of silence, and Frisk wipes their hands on their jeans and starts walking again. Their hand is still sticky, and surprise still racks their bones.

              They head towards Napstablook’s house, a safe house in a world of chaos. When they knock on the door, the ghost answers within seconds.

              “Hi, Frisk...”

              “Hey, Napstablook. Mind if I come in and chill?”

              “Not at all… would you like to listen to my music…. Or lie on the ground with me?”

              “I’ll lie on the ground with you.”

              They lie on the ground together on the wood floor, and it’s silent. It’s nice.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is extremely short, so i'll be posting another chapter tomorrow as well :D


	17. Sneaky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk and Sans see each other again and it's kinda awkward. Frisk snoops around and discovers a secret in the undergrounds past, and Papyrus is worried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus is great.

               Sans is sitting on the couch while Papyrus puts on his scarf. Sans munches on a bag of chisps, watching Papyrus struggles with his scarf. He gets it in his mouth, then he ties it in a knot, then he tries to get the knot out and ends up making _another_ knot.

               “You need help, Paps?”

               Papyrus stops. He looks at Sans and nods in defeat. Sans sighs, sets the chisps down, and he walks over to Papyrus and gets the two knots out of his scarf. He puts on the scarf the way Papyrus wears it, and once he’s done, he puts his hands on his hips.

               “You already look like a Royal Guard.”

               Papyrus’ face lights up. “Do I?”

               Sans smiles, “’Course, bro. “

               He returns back to the couch and picks up his chisps again while Papyrus glows like a star in the night sky. His face only brightens further when the door creaks open and Frisk steps inside.

               “FRISK! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!”

               Frisk smiles. “Hi Papyrus. Sorry, I took a walk last night and didn’t want to come home in the middle of the night and wake everyone up, so I slept at the Inn.”

               Papyrus looks at Sans, then at Frisk, then back at Sans, then back at Frisk.

               “So I heard you both are in a _relationship_ ,” Papyrus whispers loudly.

               Frisks’ face turns red. Sans laughs awkwardly.

               “Uh, Paps, we aren’t –“

               “WELL, I SHOULD GO!” Papyrus interrupts, walking past Frisk to the door. “SANS, I EXPECT YOU AT WORK SOON!”

               The door slams shut. Tension fills the room. Sans picks up his bag of chisps, and he hesitantly walks past Frisk to the door. Frisk frowns.

               “Sans, I have to t-“

               “I-um-I’ll see you after work,” He rushes out.

               Sans steps out, and the door shuts, and Frisk is left alone once again. They sigh.

               **_How are you two gonna defeat me when you can’t even spend 10 seconds alone with each other? You fucked everything up, Frisk. You’re getting as bad as Alphys._**

Frisk runs a hand down their face. Chara is right. They _did_ fuck everything up. They wish Sans didn’t kiss them and that date never happened. They wish that Chara wasn’t here. If Chara wasn’t here, then they could go out onto the surface and have a life. They could play pranks on Sans, get fighting lessons from Undyne, cook with Papyrus. At the very base, it’s Chara’s fault.

               **_Oh, thanks for blaming me. Isn’t blaming other people a symptom of denial?_**

**** _No. It’s a symptom of honesty._

_**That doesn’t make sense, Frisk.**_

Frisk doesn’t respond. They walk up the stairs and march down the hall. They double check to make sure the front door is shut before twisting the knob of Sans’ door.

               **_Oooh, revenge? I didn’t take you as a revenge type._**

_Because I’m not._

               Frisk steps inside, leaving the door open. The room is how it usually is except there is something on the bed-side table. They step closer, the floor creaking beneath their steps. The house seems to shush the floorboards with its buzzing silence. Frisk leans down and gazes at the picture. It’s of him when he was younger with his hoodie hanging off of him with a bundle of blankets in his arms. He’s smiling. It’s so bright. Frisk grins fondly, and they stand back up. They walk over to his closet and open the doors. Inside, there are 2 blue hoodies. Frisk goes to grab one, but stops. This… this is weird. They can’t wear Sans’ hoodie, especially after what has happened. They need to just endure the cold or see if Papyrus has any jackets.

               **_Frisk, does there seem to be more balled up papers or is that just me?_**

Frisk glances at the balled up papers that surround the metal trash bin. They never paid that much attention to how much paper there is in that paper-tsunami. They walk closer, and this time, the floorboards don’t creak. They look down at the papers and see one paper that isn’t white- it’s colored like a photo. They squat down and straighten the photo out. It’s a picture of person with a labcoat on, except their head doesn’t look like a normal head, and their hands are definitely not human – they’re skeleton. There’s a sunset directly in front of the skeleton, like the lab-coat skeleton is looking out at it. The grass is long, and it looks like they’re on a large hill.

               **_Is… fuck._**

**** _What?_

_**Nothing.**_

**** _Tell me._

_**It’s nothing, Frisk.**_

**** _Chara, tell me or –_

_**Or what? You’ll kill me?**_

_Who is this?_

_**He…he was an old scientist. The old Royal scientist. He was around when I was alive – you’ve never met him. He worked with Sans. I barely saw him.**_

_Why does Sans have this photo? Why are they on the surface?_

**_Hell if I know. Gaster and Sans were real shady back in the day._ **

_Gaster?_

**_…yeah. Shit, I didn’t mean to let his name slip._ **

_Thanks._

**_You’re so v_ e _r_ y _welcome._**

_Do you think they have books at the library ‘bout this guy?_

**_I… honestly don’t know. I highly doubt they do._ **

_Better safe than sorry._

               Frisk folds the photo carefully and sticks it into their pocket. They stand up, make sure the room is how they left it – just without the photo – and they leave to hit the library.

 

               The library, per usual, is empty and silent. The librarian is asleep. The only other person is on their phone, the light of the screen glaring in their face. Frisk walks in slowly, trying not to disturb the two monsters in the room. The door shuts louder and they wince. They glance at the phone-monster, then the sleeping-monster – none of them even glanced in the humans direction. Frisk pads across the library to the bookshelves, and they look for a book that has any correlation with “Gaster”.

               **_I think there’s a book in here that’s labeled Royal History – it has a whole bunch of Royal Scientists over the years._** Chara says once Frisk has given up looking for a book with Gaster in the title.

               So Frisk looks for that book, which takes about 10 minutes of searching since none of the books are organized in any way. They hold it in their hands. It’s an old, thin book with a cover that is falling off. Frisk frowns.

_This worn up thing?_

**_Hot damn, don’t judge a fuckin book by its cover! I thought you would be the first one to enforce that._ **

_Shut up, Chara, I bet you don’t even know how to read._

**_I’m smarter than you think._ **

_And I am more of a fighter than you think._

**_Ugh, do you have to be all sassy right now? I’m truthfully fucking curious about this shit about Sans and Gaster and here you are –_ **

_Okay, okay, fine._

               Frisk walks over to the table behind the phone-monster. They sit down and carefully set the book on the table, scared that it will crumble into dust. They flip it open. There are barely even any pages- only about 50 or so. The first few pages tell of the Royal Kingdom, the next chapter is about the fight between the humans and monsters, then finally, the royal scientists.

_There were only 2 royal scientists?_

**_Well, yeah. Gaster was fucking immortal._ **

_Seriously?_

**_I don’t know, probably._ **

               Frisk scans the page. It has a picture of him, then below is his achievements, cause of death, and words from the queen and king. The picture is him sitting in a chair, smiling at the camera. He has a crack in his skull from the top of his head to his left eye, then from the bottom of his head to his right eye. His eyes are hollow. His smile is hollow. It makes Frisks’ stomach turn.

**_Fuck, this guy is sketchy as hell. He fell in the core and died. Nobody knows if it was suicide or murder. Everything involving this guy is weird – including Sans and Papyrus._ **

_He built the core_ , Frisk tells Chara, reading Gasters achievements.

               **_I know that. Everyone knows that._**

**** _It says a date of death but not a date of birth. How did he come to be, then?_

_**Told you – he’s sketchy as fuck.**_

               Frisk turns the page to see Alphys staring back at them. It has her date of birth, not her date of death, and it has her achievements crossed out in dark ink. Frisk frowns.

               _Her achievements are crossed out._

_**I see that, s**_ **m _a_ rt o _ne_.**

_All that that Asgore and Toriel said was that she is smart and glad that one of Gasters very own assistant took the job. Does this mean Alphy was…_

_**Yeah. Fuck, I guess so. I didn’t even know that Alphys was Gasters assistant. I knew Sans was, but not that reptilian nerd.**_

**** _You’re a jerk._

_**Awh, thanks, Frisk! You’re lovely as well.**_

Frisk rolls their eyes. They go to close the book, but it dissolves in their hand like mist. Frisks’ heart skips a beat. Their chair disappears from beneath them, so they stand up quickly. The floor turns to white tile, and the room grows smaller. They’re no longer in the library – they’re in a bathroom. They look in the mirror at themself, but it doesn’t even look like themself. Their cheeks are red, and their skin is pale. Their face shifts entirely, and that’s when Frisk realizes they’re taring at Chara in the mirror. There are tears in their red eyes. A image flashes in their mind. They’re standing in a dark bedroom, staring at a sleeping couple in a bed. They’re two lumps under the blanket, only their heads poking out and resting on the pillow. They’re bodies are pressed together, eyes closed. They take a step forward, closer to the bed. Another step closer. The room is silent. It’s dark. Nerves crawl in their stomach. They raise a knife with a sharp, long blade, and they inhale deeply. They snap back to their appearance staring back at them in the mirror. The knife is raised, light shimmering on the blade. A sad smile forces its way onto their face, and the warm tears fall down their red cheeks.

               In a snap, they’re back at the library. They’re still sitting in the chair, the room is still silent, the old book is still open in front of them, and there is no knife in their hand. Frisk breathes deeply. Their hands tremble. They’re too stricken to realize that Chara is as stricken as Frisk is.

               _Chara. What is happening._

_**No idea - but I want it to stop.**_

****

              

               Sans doesn’t try. He doesn’t recalibrate his puzzles, and he takes 10 breaks every 5 minutes, and he never works. Ever. But… he is the greatest brother in the entire universe, and Papyrus can tell when the greatest brother in the entire universe isn’t just not trying at work, but also, not trying at life. He isn’t even trying to talk to papyrus, or making puns, which is _extremely_ weird. Papyrus stops, and Sans walks straight into him. Papyrus huffs, and he grabs each of Sans’ shoulders.

               “Brother, what is upsetting you?” He asks, eyeing the other skeleton.

               Sans smiles. “Nothing, bro. Just worked to the bone from all this-“

               “Sans, you have just been following me around.”

               “Walking is tiring.”

               “Sans.”

               Sans sighs and pats Papyrus arm. “Bro, I’m seriously fine. “

               Papyrus narrows his eyes. Sans goes to walk past him, but Papyrus touches his arm gently, and Sans stops. He turns and looks at Papyrus.

               “Please tell me, brother. “

               Sans hesitates. “I-I’m just hungry. Jeez, I haven’t gone to Grillbys in a while! I’ll be right back, Paps.”

               Before Papyrus could get another word in, Sans has gone. Papyrus sighs and stares at the empty space his brother once was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aye! hope you liked it :) also, I won't be updating for a week or so because I have some end-of-quarter tests this upcoming week and i really need to focus on that, but i'll be back in a week, promise!!!


	18. Bro's help Bro's

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Undyne tries to help Sans with his problems. Then, Sans and Frisk talk. Chara isn't happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm back! :)

               The warmth pricks his bones and the smell of food swirls around him. As soon as he steps into Grillbys, everyone is turning to look at him. Once they’ve realized it’s Sans and not some other monster, they smile and greet him with large smiles and friendly tones.

He eyes the bar, sighing when he realizes it’s full. So, he sits down in a booth. He stares at the table and the condiments before noticing that there is no bottle of ketchup on the table. Huh. Grillby must be wary of Sans stealing all of his ketchup. He idly passes  the salt shaker from one hand to the other, sliding it across the table.

               Someone walks over to the table and slides into the seat in front of him. Sans glances up at them, and for some reason, his spirits dive when he sees Undyne.

               _What was I expecting? Frisk with an I’m sorry card and tearful eyes?_

               Undyne snatches the salt away from him mid-slide, setting it back down in the middle of the table.

               “Know what they say about spilt salt?” She asks.

               “Bad luck is always trailing behind me, anyways.”

               “Stop being such a fuckin’ debby downer, Sans. Is this about Frisk?”

               “Yeah.”

               “What, they don’t like you? Did they hurt you? If they did I’ll kill ‘em, you know I will. I’ll grab my spear right fucking now and hurt them.”

               Sans rolls his eyes. “Don’t kill the human. “

               “Then what’s wrong with you? I don’t play the pity game so don’t test me.”

               “Frisk said we can’t have a relationship right now. We should have one on the surface when they aren’t pressured to save the underground.”

               “Yeah, and?”

               “And I’m being a selfish prick by wanting to be in a relationship now.”

               Undyne hums thoughtfully. She waves a hand, and Grillby rushes over, glasses sliding down his face. He slides them back up as he reaches the table.

               “Two shots of vodka and a large fry.”

               Grillby walks away. Sans chuckles.

               “Alcohol?”

               “What, are you too much of a _wimp_ to drink vodka?” Undyne taunts.

               “If anyone, you’re the shrimp here. “

               Undyne narrows her eyes. Sans smirks.

               “Anyways, back to the selfish skeleton,” Undyne says with hand wave.

               Sans sighs. He doesn’t want to talk about any of this.

               “Have you even told Frisk how you feel?”

               “…no.”

               “Then start there. Get your gushy feelings outta the way and clear the air. Then, go back to breaking the barrier. Problem solved. “

               “It’s not that easy.”

               “It _is_ easy. You just think it isn’t because you’re a _loser_.”

               Grillby sets down the two shots of vodka in front of each of them and places the basket of overflowing fries in between them. Sans thanks him, and he nods curtly before rushing away. Undyne takes the shot glass and downs it in half a second, slamming it back onto the table so hard that heads turn.

               “Damn, I needed that. Drink up, sunshine. “

               Sans picks up the shot glass wearily. He hasn’t had vodka in… forever. He slowly lifts it, wondering whether or not he should just put it back down. Undyne huffs.

               “Sans, I will shove it down your throat.”

               Sans drinks it, and he sets it back down. The burning taste is left tingling in his mouth. Undyne smirks and raises her eyebrows.

               “I might need another one.”

 

 

               After only two shots and a large fry, Sans is ready to conquer the treacherous task of talking about his feelings. He wanted to have three shots ( or four or five or six ) but Undyne limited him to just two. Then, she walked Sans all the way to his house to make sure he doesn’t try to escape, which Sans thought about doing several times.

               “I’ll be watching,” Undyne says, walking backwards, away from the house.

               “Stalker.”

               “You know it,” Undyne winks.

               Sans turns back to the door. He twists the cold knob and steps inside. He shuts the door, and Frisk is calling out his name.

               “Sans!”

               “Frisk, I-“

               “I need to tell you something,” They say at the same time.

               They freeze and stare at each other. Frisk blinks.

               “You can go first,” Frisk insists.

               “No, it’s fine,” Sans says, relieved. “Go ahead.”

               “Okay, well, I went for a walk yesterday night…”

               _After you said we couldn’t be together._

“And when I was walking, for some reason a memory of Chara’s just took over. Like, I was living in a memory of Chara’s.”

               Sans’ mind halts. “ _Living_ in it? As if you were Chara?”

               Frisk nods. “It was when Chara was - fuck, ow, Chara!” The human winces, and Sans frowns.

               “What happened?”

               “Chara doesn’t want me to say because they’re being a friggen baby. It was when Chara was jumping off Mt. Ebbot into the underground. “

               Frisk winces again, harder. Sans frowns.

               “Are you okay, kiddo?”

               “Yeah. Chara’s just being an ass,” Frisk says, smiling weakly. “I had another one today at the library. It was when –“

               Frisk winces again, eyes squeezing shut. Sans steps forward and rests a hand on the humans shoulder. They open their eyes and look at Sans with wide eyes. Sans immediately drops his hand.  

               “You don’t have to tell me what happened if that fucker is hurting you. “

               Frisk nods and swallows. “Yeah, they’re pissed off with this whole deal… all of the memories that are surfacing are extremely personal. Anyways, what were you going to say?”

               “Uh, nothing, just a stupid pun I came up with at Grillbys,” Sans rushes.

               Frisks’ face lights up. “Come on, lemme hear it.”

               Sans shrugs,” Nah, way too funny for your precious human ears.”

               Frisk rolls their eyes with a small grin. After that, they talk about why Chara’s memories are surfacing. They conclude that it was most likely because of Alphys and those experiments, but are too weary to ask the Royal Scientist to help; the last time she tried to help, Frisk nearly died. So, they decide not to go to Alphys.

               “You know what I think we should do?” Frisk asks, their tone different. It sounds drawled out and hushed.

               “I think we should start over,” They whisper.

               Before Sans has the chance to be confused, he’s back in his room, lying in his bed. Light pours in his open window, and the cold air spreads through the room. The skeleton sits up, jaw locked. His hands are balled into fists.

               “God _damnit,_ Chara.”


	19. Uncover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk discovers that Chara has been doing something in secret. Also, Frisk pries, Sans opens up.

Fury is radiating off of Frisk in waves. They stomp through The Ruins, ignoring every monster they come across.

               **_Angry much?_**

               “You’re a piece of work,” Frisk growls at Chara.

               **_I told you not to tell him, and what did you do?_**

“All I did was tell him about _one_ memory!”

               **_It’s called privacy, dumbass. Respect it._**

**** _I’m not the one who chose to see your memories._

_**Neither did I.**_

Frisk ignores Chara the rest of the way. Chara makes fun of them for giving the silent treatment. If Frisk dared to speak to Chara once again, they will end up yelling at the idiot. So they don’t say anything, just go through the motions, go through the house and go through Toriel full of mercy. Once they escape The Ruins and step into snow, the cold immediately biting their bare skin, Frisk lets out a breath. Almost to Sans. Almost to Sans.

               Once Frisk sees Sans standing there at the beginning of the creaky bridge, they break into a sprint. As they get closer, they can see the frown on the skeletons face, and they slow down.

               “I swear, I didn’t reset,” Frisk breathes.

               “I know,” Sans replies.

               “Chara is being a jerk.”

               “They always are. “

               Sans glances over his shoulder and sighs. “We gotta do this all over again, huh?”

               “yeah.”

               Sans groans,” I have a bone to pick with Chara.”

               **_Oh really? Frisk, let me at him. I’ll kick his skull in._**

The bridge creaks as Frisk walks across the bridge, Sans following close behind. Once they both get to the other side, the human goes directly to the lamp like they’re on autopilot; they’ve done this so many times that they know every word that will come out of the brothers’ mouth.

               Frisk goes through Papyrus’ puzzles but their head is up in the clouds. Their body is going through the motions while they’re mind is racing with ideas on how to get rid of Chara and stop the memories from invading their life. Once they get to Snowdin and finish all of Papyrus’ puzzles, there is one thing left they have to do- ‘fight’ Papyrus and become friends.

               They stand in front of Papyrus, his bright scarf flapping in the wind and his head high.

               “HUMAN. ALLOW ME TO TELL YOU ABOUT SOME COMPLEX FEELINGS. FEELINGS LIKE… THE JOY OF FINDING ANOTHER PASTA LOVER. THE ADMIRATION FOR ANOTHERS PUZZLE-SOLVING SKILLS. THE DESIRE TO HAVE A COOL, SMART PERSON THINK YOU ARE COOL. THESE FEELINGS… THEY MUST BE WHAT YOU ARE FEELING RIGHT NOW!!! I CAN HARDLY IMAGINE WHAT IT MUST BE LIKE TO FEEL THAT WAY. AFTER ALL, I AM VERY GREAT. I DON’T EVER WONDER WHAT HAVING LOTS OF FRIENDS IS LIKE. I PITY YOU… LONELY HUMAN… WORRY NOT!!! YOU SHALL BE LONELY NO LONGER! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL BE YOUR…”

               **_Fuck, I hate this shitty excuse for a skeleton._**

“…NO… NO,  THIS IS ALL WRONG! I CAN’T BEE YOUR FRIEND!!! YOU ARE A HUMAN! I MUST CAPTURE YOU!!! THEN, I CAN FULFULL MY LIFELONG DREAM!!!”

               **_Of being dead? Because I can totally help you, Papyrus._**

“POWERFUL! POPULAR!”

               **_Deceased!_**

“PRESTIGIOUS! THAT’S PAPYRUS!!! THE NEWEST MEMBER…”

               **_Of the dead squad?_**

“OF THE ROYAL GUARD!”

               **_Ah man._**

* **Papyrus blocks the way.**

Frisk is about to flirt with the skeleton, but when they open their mouths and try to speak, no words come out. They try again to find the same conclusion – speechless. Horror is a cold drug that spikes through their body. Chara takes out the toy knife and holds it up as if it’s a trohpy. Papyrus looks at them wearily. The blade glints with light. They step forward. Frisk yells at Chara and tries to gain back control, but Chara is already slicing the skeleton’s head. As soon as Papyrus’ head rolls off of his neck and hits the ground with a thump, the rest of his body – including the bright scarf – disintegrates. Papyrus begins to speak, but Chara lifts up their foot and crushes the skeletons head. Frisk winces. A memory surfaces, one of Chara forcing them to hold the blade up to monsters necks, to _Papyrus_ ’ neck. To Sans. Their legs wobble and give out, and suddenly they’re on their knees which are getting cold and soaked from the snow. Tears yet to come burn in their eyes. The only resort they can choose right now comes to mind. Frisk swallows, takes a deep inhale, and musters enough strength to reset. They can feel Chara’s amusment as they wake up in the bed of bright flowers in the middle of a dark room. They stand up, flowers lying at their feet.

               “You’re an _ass.”_

_**“Why thank you! You are as well!”**_

“I want to go and kill myself just to get rid of you. “

               **_“Awh, don’t do that – remember what happened last time?”_**

“I just. I fucking hate you.”

               **_“And just how do you think I feel about you? It’s not an unrequited hate, I can tell you that, Frisky. “_**

Frisk huffs. They start to walk forward, but Flowey immediately greets them. Suddenly, they aren’t in control of their limbs. They can’t even stretch their fingers out. Horror seizes them with a strong grip. Flowey looks at them, his face no longer smiling and friendly. It’s bared teeth and dark eyes.

               “How’s Frisky?” Flowey asks with a teasing tone.

               Chara laughs, but it’s empty. “Oh, just _fantastic_. You know what I love? Being stuck to a necrophilia-diseased human.”

               Flowey laughs, a piercing screech. Frisk wonders what the fuck is going on here. Does Flowey remember everything? Has Chara been talking to Flowey like this since reset 1?

               “Anyways, something weird has been happening, Asriel. I… my memories. These stupid memories, all of my personal ones, are bleeding through, and Frisk is _re-living_ them. It’s because of goddamn _Alphys.”_

“Don’t be too mean about Alphys, Chara. She’s the reason why I’m here.”

               “Yeah, as a fucking _flower_. But back to the point. Frisk has to go, and soon. I can’t continue living like a caged animal. “

               Flowey narrows his eyes. “What, Chara? You want me to lend you all my power? Devote my being to you?”

               Chara scoffs. “Silly, you already devote your being to me. I need you to kill Sans. Permanently.”

               Flowey frowns. He eyes Chara. “Chara, I can’t erase him from timelines that don’t even exist yet. That isn’t possible. I can kill him each time, though, before Frisk gets out of the ruins.”

               Chara pauses, rolling the idea around in their head. Frisk has an impulse to shout at Chara, tell them that it won’t stop their determination, but they don’t. They have a feeling they were never supposed to hear this conversation, so they stay silent.

               “Maybe. Or maybe not. Not yet. I’ll just wait until –“

               Chara stops. Frisk can feel the irritation and realization flow through Chara.

               “Frisk,” They sigh. “Ah, lovely Frisk. I guess I didn’t block you out with enough power.”

               _Just to let you know, nothing will ever dim my determination._

Chara hums like they’re talking to a little kid who just told them fairies are real.

               “I have to go, Asriel,” Chara tells the flower. “I’ll see you soon.”

               _You won’t be seeing him soon._

Chara walks through The Ruins with full control over Frisks’ body. They kill all of the monsters there despite Frisks cries and protests. They try to gain back control, but Chara pushes them back with more determination than ever. By the time they reach Toriel, Frisk has had enough with this charade. Mustering all the energy and determination they have, they force Chara to the back of their head and gain back control of their body before Toriel is injured. They can hear Chara cursing at them from the back of their mind, but they ignore it and (mercifully) fight Toriel. Once she’s worn out and let’s Frisk pass, they all but sprint to see Sans at the bridge. Sans seems confused to see them running but happy nonetheless.

               “Chara,” Frisk pants.

               Sans chuckles. “yes, I know Chara –“

               “No,” Frisk says, regaining their breath. “Chara has been talking to Flowey this entire time. “

               The smile fades from the skeletons face, a frown in place.

               “Chara didn’t have enough power to block me out, so I heard the entire thing. Then they went on a friggen rampage in The Ruins to gain back some power. Sans, i’m honestly scared. “

               “Ah, babe, don’t be scared. Chara’s just a fuckin jerk who needs to learn their lesson.”

               Frisk blushes at the name. They ponder telling Sans not to call them that or not, but decides to leave it be.

               “Don’t let Chara reset,” Sans states, serious. “Do whatever you can to not reset. “

               Frisk nods, taking a deep breath. They’ll do whatever they can to stop Chara. They go through Snowdin once again, just up to the fight with Papyrus so Papyrus doesn’t try to take the human to Undyne when them and Sans are trying to figure out how to get rid of Chara. Once the Papyrus ‘fight’ is over and everything is calm, Frisk and Sans stack books by each of their sides and start re-searching ways to stop Chara. They grabbed every book that had to do with the past, surface, or science. By the time Frisk has scanned through 3 books, Sans has read through 10 books.

               _Must be a perk of being a skeleton._

_**Or perhaps you’re just a slow reader.**_

They ignore Chara and grab another book off the stack. They glance at the title and freeze. “ _Royal Scientists.”_ Gaster pops into their head. They stare at Sans.

“Sans, who is Gaster?”

               Sans freezes. He meets Frisks’ eyes briefly before adverting his gaze.

               “He, uh, he was a scientist. Why?”

               “I, um…” Frisk trails off, trying to gather some courage. “I found a picture. In your room. I was curious and Chara was too, so we went here and I read this book-“ Frisk holds up the book in their hands. “- and Chara told me more about it…”

               Sans sighs. He leans back against the wall and shuts his eyes.  Frisk frowns and wonders if they did something wrong.

               **_Of course you did something wrong. Gaster is obviously a precious secret to him. Not that I’m complaining that you said that- I’m fucking curious as well._**

_I don’t care._

_**Well, I do.**_

               “He… he’s practically my father,” Were the words that Sans decided to say, something Frisk did not expect to hear. “He created me using his DNA; Paps, too. He created me for science. He ran tests on me. He experimented on me. I-I know it sounds bad, but it wasn’t all that bad. Sometimes, he brought me to the surface to help him find things he needed for experiments. He showed me – and Papyrus – the bad parts of the human race. The bloodshed. The wars. He told me that someday, humans were going to try and take the underground and kill us all, and I had to defend it. I don’t know if that was the goal in his mind, to stop humans from coming here, or if that’s just what he told me to please me. “

               “Anyways, I knew how to hurt someone by the age of 4. I was rusty, though. When I was older, Gaster got an assistant. Alphys. She helped Gaster build the core. I didn’t know he was building the core, though – I thought he was just helping Alphys with something. Eventually, I found him at the core when Alphys wasn’t there and I…”

               Sans glances around the room to make sure nobody is listening. Then he says in a hushed tone,” I was pissed off at the fact he did this without me. I felt like a lab rat to him – which I was. I used one of my powers on him, and he fell back into the depths of the core. “

               “Gaster blaster,” Frisk murmurs. Sans nods.

               “So, that’s my sad, boring backstory,” Sans chuckles sadly.

               “Thank you for telling me.”

               “You’re my friend, Frisk. Of course I told you.”

               Silence settles over them. Sans simply gazes at the human and the human gazes right back. They wonder if Sans is going to kiss them again – then, they wonder if they _want_ Sans to kiss them. Before Frisk can ponder too deeply about it, Sans is standing up and offering a hand for Frisk to take.

               “Come. I need to show you something.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NEW CHAPTER! Love it? Hate it? Comment about it ! ( i really hope you don't hate it pleASE L O V E M E )


	20. Childhood Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans shows Frisk something nobody knows about, something involving Gaster. Also, Frisk has a look into Chara's memories again, finding something out about their family.

               After feeling like they have been tossed into a tornado for a few seconds, they land on hard tiled ground, still holding Sans’ cold hand. It’s dark. It’s dead silent except for the faint sound of dripping water. Frisk looks around the dim room, seeing only a television with two bookcases beside it. Next to the one bookcase is a slot, and beside the other is a monitor. Immediately, Frisk knows where they are – the True Lab.

               “Why are we in…” Frisk trails off, looking at Sans with their eyebrows drawn together. The skeleton doesn’t look at them. Instead, he looks at the bookcases. He walks towards the bookcase nearest to the slot, tugging the human along. Once they reach the bookcase, Sans reaches one hand up and sticks his finger into the slot. Frisk is about to voice their confusion, but stops short when a loud noise occurs like a boulder falling. Then, they realize the book case is opening like a door would, stopping when it hits the tv. What it shows behind the bookcase is a door. The paint is almost all chipped, the doorknob rusted, cracks running down the wood. Sans hums in satisfaction.

               “I thought going back into this room was a lost _case_ , but I guess I was wrong.”

               Frisk, too fascinated to care about the horrible pun, asks, “Was this always here?”

               Sans nods. He carefully opens the door with a slightly shaking hand.

               _What’s behind this door that he’s so shaky about?_

_**No fucking clue, but I sure as hell want to find out.**_

The door is pushed open to a sight of vast darkness. The skeleton steps into the void, inhaling deeply, exhaling slowly. Frisk steps in after him but doesn’t shut the door. Upon Sans flicking on the light switch just on the wall a foot or two away, the room lights up. Frisks eyes widen and feels Chara’s awe blossom inside of their body. The first thing their eyes land on is the huge test-tube-looking structures standing directly in the middle of the room. They stretch from the floor to the ceiling, tall and thin. They are two of them standing close together like a display. To the left, bookcases lined the wall all the way up to the corner. At the corner spreading out across some of the back wall was a large desk full of papers and metal dividers and even a closed laptop sitting on top collecting dust. In the middle of the left wall, there was a gate in a shape of a square. It had a small bed still supplied with a blanket, pillow, mattress, and sheet, and beside that was an even smaller incubator. Huh. Were there babies as test subjects in here?

               **_If this is Sans’ extra lab, then probably._**

In the far left corner, past the little fence surrounding the bed and incubator, there was a large rectangular structure with a ton of buttons on top and glowing red lights on the side. There was a crank on the top as well as several smaller levers. On the far right-hand side corner, there was a huge glass display case shelved with different kinds of gadgets ranging from human-guns to strange metal guns. In between the gadget case and the strange rectangular structure was a target hanging on the wall. In front of that, about 10 feet away, was a chair with rope coiled at the bottom. Frisk shivered, picturing screaming monsters tied up there, forced to be toyed with, forced into being a petty lab rat. They shake the image from their head and look at the remaining section of the wall, just to their right. It was a huge counter filled with test-tubes and measuring cups and bottles. Some of them contained liquid, others were empty.

               Sans lets go of Frisks’ hand, causing their eyes to snap to look at him. The skeleton looks around the room, seeming like he’s in a daze.

               “Fuck,” He whispers. “ _Fuck.”_

“Hey,” Frisk says softly to him.

               Sans looks at them, his face full of nostalgia and pain.

               “Right,” He says, snapping back to reality. His face clears of the pain and nostalgia, instead turning guarded again. Frisk can feel him closing off.

               “Don’t.”

               “Don’t?”

               “Don’t shut me out. Tell me about this place; tell me why I’m here.”

               Sans turns away. He sighs heavily, sticking his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. He takes a moment to compose himself before speaking.

               “This was Gaster’s lab. The True Lab was his as well, but this part he hid. He kept things in here that he didn’t want the Royal family to see – didn’t want _anyone_ to see. His notebooks he had written in over the course of his life, all of his ancient books he had collected, all of his research, his knowledge.” Sans’ voice drops to a soft whisper. “Me.”

               “You were created in here.”

               Sans nods, kicking at the ground. “Yeah. Funny how the nostalgia just hits you like a goddamn train. I remember training in here, trying so hard to control my powers. There used to be three of those capsules, y’know.”

               He points to the 2 tall capsules in the middle of the room. Frisk nods in acknowledgement Sans walks forward, leading Frisk to the counter full of test tubes first.

               “He did experiments. Lots. I didn’t know what he was doing most of the time. At the time, I thought he was trustworthy, thought he would always be honest. How wrong I was. He didn’t even tell my half the things he was actually working on… but I guess that came back to bite him, didn’t it? Didn’t even get to finish his experiments on me.”

               **_I’m so overwhelmed. I’m so overwhelmed I can die._**

Frisk follows the skeleton onward to the case full of strange machines. With careful hands, he opens the doors to the case fully. He takes one of the machines out, a metal one that’s rusting, covered in bronze. It’s small in a sloping shape, like a ramp. It had a trigger like a gun and a place to hold it, except that it was metal, rusting, and had a glowing red light lining the bottom of it. Frisk felt their stomach twist as they gazed at the red glowing light. The skeleton paid no mind, lost in his nostalgia trance as he inspected the old machine.

               **_Watch out, Frisk – he might lose his mind and shoot us!_**

_Ha ha, very funny, Chara. Almost as funny as Sans; congratulations._

_**Excuse me? I’m much funnier than Sans. Look at that fucking donkey, acting like we aren’t even here, inspecting that stupid fucking weapon instead.**_

“Sans, what’s that?” Frisk asks dumbly, gesturing to the chair and target when he looks up at them. As soon as he glances over to where Frisk is pointing, his smile turns into a frown. He slowly sets the machine back down.

               “The target was for target practice for my powers. I would aim my attacks there instead of darts. And… the chair…” He stuffs his hands into his hoodie pockets. “I was a kid, yeah? And kids need some discipline sometimes. “

Frisk swallows. They don’t want to think about Sans’ punishments.

               “The fenced in area is for when me and Paps were born,” Sans adds, changing the subject nonchalantly. “I was born first, him second. We were kept there like newborns in a hospital. That generator in the corner, that’s for the power in here. If you flip some switches, push a few buttons, then those two capsules fill with fluid. I spent most of my first years of life in those capsules. If I wasn’t in that incubator, I was stuffed into one of those damned tubes. I don’t remember it much – I don’t remember much from my childhood – but I remember the feeling of being in those day and night. Sometimes, when he was busy, he would forget me in there and… “

               Sans stops. He coughs into his elbow. He heaves a deep breath. Frisk wants to hug him, hold him in their arms and kiss all over his face, telling him he’s okay, he’s okay. They don’t, though. They don’t even hug him, knowing it’ll cause pain and hurt; the remembrance of that dinner and rejection still lingers in both of their heads.

               **_Yeah, when that-_**

Chara stops and Frisk can see why. The room shifts rapidly from the messy lab to a church. They are sitting in the second pew. When the scan the room they find that the room is packed with people dressed in black, solemn looks on their faces. When Frisk turns back and sees a sleek mahogany casket at the front, they realize what’s going on.

               _Chara, who…?_

Chara doesn’t reply. Frisk can feel their guilt, their immense sadness. Frisk looks up at the picture that’s stood up on an easel beside the dark casket, displaying a young smiling girl. She’s young, around 8 years old. She has short brown hair and long bangs that hang over her eyebrows. She’s smiling, a gap in between her two front teeth.

               Then, the scene is changing. It’s a graveyard. Dozens of graves litter the ground, all in neat rows and sections. The sun is lowering, beginning to dunk under the horizon. With a shadow casting over the ground, a young child walks up to a grave about 10 feet away from Frisk. They can’t see their face, only their backside. The kid kneels down, placing a hand on the marble.

               “I’m sorry, Izzy,” They whisper, voice cracking.

               Then, startling Frisk, a woman walks over and stands right next to the child. The woman ruffles the childs hair, causing the child to jump.

               “We have to go, Chara,” The woman says softly.

               Frisk watches with bulging eyes as the child – as _Chara_ stands up, following the woman out of the graveyard. Frisk stays standing there, frozen in shock.

               _Chara, you have a sister? You…_

_**Had, you utter moron. She’s**_ **dead.**

               _Fuck, Chara, I’m so sorry._

_**It doesn’t matter, anyways. Nothing up here matters. Everyone dies in the end, including her goddamn murder. It doesn’t matter.**_

The scene dissolves around the human, shifting rapidly from the graveyard at sunset to the messy lab. The florescent lights glare at them, the capsules stand abandon, and Sans gazes worriedly.

               “You okay, bucko?” He asks. He lifts a hand, but then hesitates and drops it back to his side. Frisk can’t help but feel bad.

               “Yeah, just… “

               “More hallucinating Chara’s memories?” He proposes.

               Frisk nods,” Yeah, but this time was different. This time, I was watching Chara. I wasn’t Chara, or they weren’t me, I guess. I was an outsider looking in.”

               Sans huffs,” Fuck, I just want that demon _gone_. “

               They’re about to agree, but hesitates. They think about little Chara in the graveyard, kneeling at the gravestone. Frisk thinks about Chara standing at the edge of Mt. Ebott. Chara may appear demon, but after diving into their deep, dark memories… Chara is human. They are human, just with demon traits.

               “Is there anything ‘round here that you think will work? Anything Gaster might have made without knowing it’s benefits to soul separation?” Frisk asks, swiftly changing the subject.

               Sans hums. He looks around, thinking. He walks over to the shelf of weapons, taking out an item that looks like a tv remote, except it has two antennas at the end of it. Frisk eyes it skeptically as Sans takes it out of the shelf.

               “This thing separates gases,” He states, then looks up at Frisk. “Are souls gases?”

               Frisk raises their eyebrows. “Sans, soul’s are not gases. “

               “Welp, Gaster can’t help you, then. Sorry, bud,” He frowns, then puts the item back onto the shelf and shuts the door.

               “Thanks for taking me here, Sans,” Frisk says sincerely. “I appreciate you spilling everything. “

               Sans shrugs. “Shouldn’t be spilling anything, really; you’ve already got Chara’s emotional baggage. “

               “Trust me, I’d rather deal with your baggage than Chara’s.”

               **_Wow, offensive! I should break up with you!_**

_Please do._

_**I would but I can’t exactly kick you out, can i? I mean, you could kindly allow me to take control…**_

**** _Never gonna happen._

_**It’ll happen eventually, Frisky.**_

Frisk rolls their eyes. They walk with Sans out of the lab and back to the bookcase.

               “Hey, why didn’t you just teleport into here?” Frisk asks once they step back into the dim True Lab.

               “Gaster put a warding spell on it, so nobody can enter here unless they put their finger into the slot,” He answers, closing the bookcase.

               Frisk doesn’t like Gaster. Honestly, they like Chara more than Gaster. From the sound of it, he was… too hardcore on Sans. Too strict.

               “Alright, let’s go,” Sans states, grabbing hold of Frisks’ hand. Frisk can’t help the rush of warmth that fills their body. The hurricane and wind traps them again, but Frisk doesn’t mind this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AH! HOPE YOU ENJOYED!!!! GASTER! IZZY! AYE!


End file.
